...making Linux just a little more fun!
[ In reference to "How to Reset forgotten Root passwords" in LG#107 ]
Ben Okopnik [ben at linuxgazette.net]
----- Forwarded message from Dmitri Radtchenko <dorscher@gmail.com> -----
From: Dmitri Radtchenko <dorscher@gmail.com> Date: Tue, Aug 11, 2009 at 2:37 PM Subject: Question To: tag@linuxgazette.net
Hello The Answer Gang,
I have a question about the following article: http://linuxgazette.net/107/tomar.html
I did the following:
"Delete everything between the first and second colons, so that the line looks like:" root::12581:0:99999:7:::
"Save the file and exit your editor"
"Type 'reboot' to reboot your system"
However I can't complete this step:
"Now you can log into your system as root with no password. Make sure you change the password immediately."
When I try to login through putty, it asks me for login name, I enter root, then it asks me for password, I just hit enter, and it says the password is invalid.
How exactly do I login with no password?
Thanks!
----- End forwarded message -----
Kapil Hari Paranjape [kapil at imsc.res.in]
Hello,
On Tue, 11 Aug 2009, Ben Okopnik wrote:
> From: Dmitri Radtchenko <dorscher@gmail.com>
> Delete everything between the first and second colons, so that the line looks > like: > root::12581:0:99999:7::: > > "Now you can log into your system as root with no password. Make sure you > change the password immediately."
> When I try to login through putty, it asks me for login name, I enter root, > then it asks me for password, I just hit enter, and it says the password is > invalid.
The article talked about login on the console presumably. The "ssh" daemon is usually configured to not allow empty root password logins.
Regards,
Kapil. --
Dmitri Radtchenko [dorscher at gmail.com]
I didn't know that about ssh.
It worked through console. Thanks!
Sam Bisbee [sbisbee at computervip.com]
On Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 01:35:53PM -0400, Dmitri Radtchenko wrote:
> I didn't know that about ssh. > > It worked through console. Thanks! >
Helpful hint: please refrain from top posting. It's more natural, and generally considered better form, to include your replies at the bottom of the e-mail or inline for better flow.
> On Tue, Aug 11, 2009 at 10:04 PM, Kapil Hari Paranjape <kapil@imsc.res.in>wrote: > > > Hello, > > > > On Tue, 11 Aug 2009, Ben Okopnik wrote: > > > From: Dmitri Radtchenko <dorscher@gmail.com> > > > > > Delete everything between the first and second colons, so that the line > > looks > > > like: > > > root::12581:0:99999:7::: > > > > > > "Now you can log into your system as root with no password. Make sure you > > > change the password immediately." > > > > > When I try to login through putty, it asks me for login name, I enter > > root, > > > then it asks me for password, I just hit enter, and it says the password > > is > > > invalid. > > > > The article talked about login on the console presumably. The "ssh" > > daemon is usually configured to not allow empty root password logins. > >
Another good barrier is that root login is often disabled over ssh, with empty passwords being disabled for all users. This forces users to use sudo (a "good thing").
These and more settings can be found in either the ssh daemon or pam configurations.
-- Sam Bisbee