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How to login as root - Salix desktop

Posted: 20. Oct 2010, 15:19
by salixosuser
Please pardon me if this is something obvious or has been covered and my question comes out of ignorance of a new Salix user...
How do I log in to root Salix desktop? When I log off from 'one' and try to log in with 'root' I am getting a message something like 'Root logins not available from this screen'.
Rebooting appears to automatically log in as 'one', which is great in itself, however it does not give me the opportunity to log in as root either.
I searched all sections of this Forum and Wiki and could not find any answer - must be something obvious I am overlooking...

Re: How to login as root - Salix desktop

Posted: 20. Oct 2010, 15:35
by gapan
salixosuser wrote:How do I log in to root Salix desktop?
You don't.

You need to research why root login is something that you should really avoid.

Re: How to login as root - Salix desktop

Posted: 20. Oct 2010, 16:27
by salixosuser
Thank you Gapan for responding. I am quite aware of security issue, and I do completely agree. However in some cases I do need to log in as root in order to perform some maintenance. In this case I was following your instructions to delete conf files in /etc/wicd you recommended to test the workaround of LiveClone bug. I am not able to delete them as 'one' using Thunar, which is to be expected. Looks like su in a terminal window is the only way to perform maintenance by cli?

Re: How to login as root - Salix desktop

Posted: 20. Oct 2010, 16:30
by zAchAry
@gapan
I'm very curious about your persistent manner about avoiding using root at log-in, why you are so stubborn about that?
salixosuser wrote:I searched all sections of this Forum and Wiki and could not find any answer
Will there be any document about it?

@salixosuser
I hope it is not a personal question: why do you wish to log-in to the Salix OS desktop as root?
Edit: never mind - you've already answered ;)

Re: How to login as root - Salix desktop

Posted: 20. Oct 2010, 16:43
by salixosuser
zAchAry,

Just to make myself more clear I do completely agree with Gapan that root login should be avoided if not even banned for security - to safeguard integrity of the system not only from unauthorized ones but also from the user himsef (inadvertant changes).
However my question would be only how to go about a planned maintenance on the system, the user friendly way...

Re: How to login as root - Salix desktop

Posted: 20. Oct 2010, 17:13
by zAchAry
salixosuser wrote:However my question would be only how to go about a planned maintenance on the system, the user friendly way...
Live CD of Ubuntu? (I'm using it when needed) :P

Re: How to login as root - Salix desktop

Posted: 20. Oct 2010, 17:18
by EricC
salixosuser wrote:zAchAry,

Just to make myself more clear I do completely agree with Gapan that root login should be avoided if not even banned for security - to safeguard integrity of the system not only from unauthorized ones but also from the user himsef (inadvertant changes).
However my question would be only how to go about a planned maintenance on the system, the user friendly way...
For me, I open a terminal window and then type the following at the prompt:

su -

From there I can perform maintenance tasks without logging on as root.

Re: How to login as root - Salix desktop

Posted: 20. Oct 2010, 17:27
by damNageHack
Nice article why you should avoid to work as root or at least not to share the root password.
http://www.linux.com/news/technology-fe ... -passwords

Re: How to login as root - Salix desktop

Posted: 20. Oct 2010, 18:02
by salixosuser
zAchAry wrote:
salixosuser wrote:However my question would be only how to go about a planned maintenance on the system, the user friendly way...
Live CD of Ubuntu? (I'm using it when needed) :P
Even if I was an Ubuntu fan (Which I am not) I would not be able to use Ubuntu LiveCD to perform maintenance of SalixLive system. Just as I explained in my post, I was about to delete some conf files on SalixLive run, to test whether it would fix the LiveClone bug (Critical one if LiveClone is to be quite useful as it used to be...).
So using any other LiveCD is not an option in such case, however I will try the old way (su) cli as soon as I have a chance.

Re: How to login as root - Salix desktop

Posted: 20. Oct 2010, 18:07
by gapan
@salixosuser,
you can perform any administrative task from a terminal by issuing su. If you really really (and I mean really) want it, you can launch thunar from just a terminal, but that is not they way you should do it either.