what is the root password in dsl?
Forum: Other Help Topics
Topic: what is the root password in dsl?
started by: linuxarmy
Posted by linuxarmy on Sep. 28 2003,23:13
i just started dsl a couple of days ago and some of the stuff i need to do requires me to be logged in as root... i know how to that, su -m, but i've no idea what the password is? Any help would be much appreciated.
Posted by satoshi on Sep. 28 2003,23:56
what stuff are you doing? If it's stuff from the command line, just type sudo su or sudo -u root PROGRAMsudo su makes you root until you close the terminal window. sudo -u root PROGRAM is just for that program
Posted by wiak on Sep. 29 2003,00:22
just typesudo su
and then passwd
so do that on screen ;P
and wolla you are root :P
Posted by satoshi on Sep. 29 2003,00:30
just plain "sudo su" works for me... I didn't even think root had a password.. oh well
Posted by brotherscrim on Oct. 09 2003,16:49
it does have a password, I guessed it the other day.It's like <snip> or <snip> or something.
Posted by KevB on Oct. 09 2003,17:13
The default password for both the root and damnsmall user is <snip>. As already mentioned you can change them by using passwd.
Posted by John on Oct. 09 2003,20:37
Having such simple and public password is a security risk. Be sure to change it if you do a hard drive install. I will be changing it to something more random in the upcoming release.It is better to be on the cautious side, I've snipped the passwords (sorry) -- it is easy enough to set your own. If you know the password, please don't post it.
Posted by vhangell on Oct. 10 2003,01:29
hehe 
Posted by Silyx on Oct. 10 2003,06:51
Instead of just changing it to another simple password could you possibly have it set as a scrambled password on boot? I have seen this in some liveCDs and seems like a good idea.
Posted by KevB on Oct. 10 2003,11:58
| Quote (John @ Oct. 09 2003,16:37) |
| I've snipped the passwords (sorry) |
Oops, sorry John. While we are talking about passwords maybe you could comment on if it's possible to make DSL ask for a login upon boot? Instead of going straight to X?
Posted by John on Oct. 10 2003,14:00
Silyx, can you hunt down a code example?KevB, I've never tried, I'll have to get back to you.
Posted by Dakrone on Oct. 10 2003,15:30
...Check here:
< http://www.mort.level5.net/johnr/c-source/menu-5.htm >
it would not be hard at all to modify one of those programs to work like you need it.
Posted by vhangell on Oct. 13 2003,12:55
Nice link dakrone. I'll try some of these tonight 
Posted by KevB on Oct. 13 2003,17:37
Not really sure you need those extra programs. Linux is a multi user OS and if you type login you get the kind of prompt I'm talking about. It's just a setup issue which means DSL logs in automatically for you.
Posted by alien2k on Oct. 13 2003,21:09
The problem is that everything up until FluxBox seems to run as root, so I assume that something about the kDrive servers needs them to run as root, or maybe something before that. I may try messing with inittab tonight to see if I can get a login prompt, as I would like to get xdm or something working because it just looks cooler than a text prompt!Sam
Posted by joswaldjones on Oct. 25 2003,16:00
hi, so why are you whithholding the root password then?
Posted by KevB on Oct. 25 2003,19:58
| Quote (joswaldjones @ Oct. 25 2003,12:00) |
| hi, so why are you whithholding the root password then? |
Because it's the root password!
But it doesn't matter, as already pointed out in this thread you do not need to know the password if you are not clever enough to guess it.
Posted by gunit on Nov. 16 2003,07:56
I cannot find that password anywhere? any pointers? hints? i really want to access my damn small box through ssh.
Posted by chalexwack311 on Nov. 16 2003,17:05
i don't get why you with hold the root password, people need it to know how to access root on dsl, it's dumb to not just tell us, if it's so much a security risk, then having a simple one is a security risk too, it's just plain dumb to with hold it from us like this.
Posted by John on Nov. 16 2003,20:18
I've explained how to get root in the FAQ section.< http://damnsmalllinux.org/faq.html#root >
Posted by KevB on Nov. 17 2003,20:10
| Quote (chalexwack311 @ Nov. 16 2003,12:05) |
| i don't get why you with hold the root password, people need it to know how to access root on dsl. |
You do not need the default root password, read this thread again, and see the FAQ as John pointed out. You should also change the root password to one of your own, and again you don't need the original password for this. If you don't know how to do this search the forum to find out.