Differences between revisions 1 and 17 (spanning 16 versions)
Revision 1 as of 2007-12-31 15:21:36
Size: 1492
Comment:
Revision 17 as of 2010-05-26 07:56:15
Size: 1936
Editor: ?DiederikDeHaas
Comment: Changed the link to the sudo manpage to the sudo wiki page (man page link is in the sudo wiki page). Also explained the change in the prompt and a way to find out as which user you're operating.
Deletions are marked like this. Additions are marked like this.
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## hints for wiki contributors about Root:
## - write hints/guidelines here.
##
## Remember, it's important (for search engines) that title actually
## contains words relevant to the page content. ("introduction" don't help)
##
||<tablestyle="width: 100%;" style="border: 0px hidden">~-Translation(s): none / [:German/Root:Deutsch] - [:French/Root:Français]-~||<style="text-align: right;border: 0px hidden"> (!) [:/Discussion:Discussion]||
||<tablestyle="width: 100%;" style="border: 0px hidden">~-[[DebianWiki/EditorGuide#translation|Translation(s)]]: English - [[es/Root|Español]] - [[it/Root|Italiano]] -~ ||<style="text-align: right; border: 0px hidden"> (!) [[/Discussion|Discussion]]||
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Explanations about the {{{root}}} account.
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## If your page gets really long, uncomment this Table of Contents
[[TableOfContents(2)]]
<<TableOfContents(2)>>
= What is root? =
Root is the name of the most powerful account on a Debian installation. The {{{root}}} user account can do everything on the machine. Root is also known as supervisor and administrator. Root's home ({{{~}}}) folder is {{{/root}}}.
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= What is root? =

{{{Root}}} is the name of the most powerful account on a Debian installation. This user account can do everything on the machine. It's also known as supervisor, administrator.

It has uid 0 and gid 0.
{{{root}}} has uid<<FootNote(uid is the user identifier, a number which identifies all user accounts.)>> 0 and gid<<FootNote(gid is the group identifier.)>> 0.
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At installation time, you are asked whether you want to use the root account or not.
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At installation time, you are been asked for creation or not of the root account.
 * if you want so ''(the default)'', you'll be asked to provide a password for root. Use a strong one!
 * if not, no root account is enabled and the password of the first user created will be used for administration tasks.



----
## You can add other helpful links
See also:
 * [http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/reference/ch-tutorial.en.html#s-login-root Login to a shell prompt as root]
 * [http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/reference/ch-tips.en.html#s-crackroot "I forgot the root password!"]


##CategorySomething | CategoryAnother
 * If you want to ''(the default)'', you'll be asked to provide a '''complex''' password for root. ''Use a strong one!''
 * If not, no root account is enabled and the password of the first user created will be used for administration tasks.
 * If you forgot your password, read [[http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/reference/ch-tips#s-crackroot|"I forgot the root password!"]]
= How to use root level access as a normal user =
 * Under Gnome : in Gnome Application Menu/Accessories/Root Terminal
 * From console : read ''Debian Reference''{{{}}}'s [[http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/reference/ch-tutorial#s-login-root|Login to a shell prompt as root]]
 * In a terminal : you can use [[DebianMan:1/su|su]] (or [[DebianMan:1/gksu|gksu]]) to change your identity to root. <<BR>> However, it's recommended to configure and use [[sudo]] (or [[DebianMan:1/gksudo|gksudo]]) to run a given command.
When you change from a normal user to root, your prompt will change from {{{user@mypc:~$}}} to {{{root@mypc:/home/user#}}} .<<BR>>
To find out as which user you're operating now, execute the command {{{whoami}}} .

Translation(s): English - Español - Italiano

(!) ?Discussion


What is root?

Root is the name of the most powerful account on a Debian installation. The root user account can do everything on the machine. Root is also known as supervisor and administrator. Root's home (~) folder is /root.

root has uid1 0 and gid2 0.

Password

At installation time, you are asked whether you want to use the root account or not.

  • If you want to (the default), you'll be asked to provide a complex password for root. Use a strong one!

  • If not, no root account is enabled and the password of the first user created will be used for administration tasks.
  • If you forgot your password, read "I forgot the root password!"

How to use root level access as a normal user

  • Under Gnome : in Gnome Application Menu/Accessories/Root Terminal
  • From console : read Debian Reference's Login to a shell prompt as root

  • In a terminal : you can use su (or gksu) to change your identity to root.
    However, it's recommended to configure and use sudo (or gksudo) to run a given command.

When you change from a normal user to root, your prompt will change from user@mypc:~$ to root@mypc:/home/user# .
To find out as which user you're operating now, execute the command whoami .

  1. uid is the user identifier, a number which identifies all user accounts. (1)

  2. gid is the group identifier. (2)