Differences between revisions 16 and 17
⇤ ← Revision 16 as of 2010-04-13 12:37:39 →
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Editor: BeatriceTorracca
Comment: +link to it translation, minor fixes
← 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.
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 * In a terminal : you can use [[DebianMan:1/su|su]] (or [[DebianMan:1/gksu|gksu]]) to change your identity to root. However, it's recommended to configure and use [[DebianMan:1/sudo|sudo]] (or [[DebianMan:1/gksudo|gksudo]]) to run a given command.  * 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

Contents

  1. What is root?
  2. Password
  3. How to use root level access as a normal user

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)