[reemas]

i just need it for an ipfw command. i'm not sure if i ever set the password or what it is... how can i find out or properly reset it without losing data?

[pat++]

The root account is locked by default. You can use sudo instead, with your password (assuming your are admin on the machine).


sudo -s

(to get a root shell)

or

sudo ipfw param1 param2....

(to execute ipfw as root)

[smorris76]

You can also run 'sudo password root' to set the root password.

[reemas]

isnt leaving sudo open like that less secure?

[[APi]TheMan]

Originally posted by reemas:
isnt leaving sudo open like that less secure?

Sure, if your password sucks.

But really there's no need to enable the root user. For most purposes, the following should work well:

Code:
sudo command

If you do need a root shell (or if you're just tired of using sudo before each command) use:

Code:
 sudo -s

If you need a REAL root shell, run this:

Code:
sudo su -

"su" will make you the super user, and the trailing "-" will make that shell a login shell, effectively starting you up from that user's home directory and reading in environment variables and all that good stuff (note: You can use "su" to become ANY user as long as you know that user's password. "su johndoe", for example).

[Millennium]

Originally posted by reemas:
isnt leaving sudo open like that less secure?

Only Administrator-class users have an open sudo. Regular users do not.

This does mean that you need to guard Administrator passwords as closely as you would guard the root password. However, this doesn't actually undermine your security much.