[opensuse] newbee question on root password
I am trying to leave a Fedora environment and am having problems with the root and user password. I did a 13.2 install from the DVD, leaving the mark highlighted that indicated that the user and root password would be the same (I think). When I tried to su to root, it said the password was invalid. When I logged of, it also said that the user password was now invalid. As I recall, it worked the first time I booted the system. I used a short password that the system said was not safe, but I did not care at this time. I looked at the /etc/password file from another system and there was no entry for root at all! I there a way to mount the system using the rescue boot option so that I can change my user password back? And how do I get root back? I have never had to do an adduser root. Did the system get angry at my short passwords and just ignore them? I would have expected the installation to halt if it could not generate a root account. I assume opensuse does have a root account? Don -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
don fisher composed on 2015-02-05 20:37 (UTC-0700):
I am trying to leave a Fedora environment and am having problems with the root and user password. I did a 13.2 install from the DVD, leaving the mark highlighted that indicated that the user and root password would be the same (I think). When I tried to su to root, it said the password was invalid. When I logged of, it also said that the user password was now invalid. As I recall, it worked the first time I booted the system.
I used a short password that the system said was not safe, but I did not care at this time. I looked at the /etc/password file from another system and there was no entry for root at all!
I there a way to mount the system using the rescue boot option so that I can change my user password back? And how do I get root back? I have never had to do an adduser root. Did the system get angry at my short passwords and just ignore them? I would have expected the installation to halt if it could not generate a root account. I assume opensuse does have a root account?
I've not needed to do any such thing in too many years to remember, but this looks like should cover it: https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Recover_root_password -- "The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation) Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks! Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
On 06/02/15 14:37, don fisher wrote:
I am trying to leave a Fedora environment and am having problems with the root and user password. I did a 13.2 install from the DVD, leaving the mark highlighted that indicated that the user and root password would be the same (I think). When I tried to su to root, it said the password was invalid. When I logged of, it also said that the user password was now invalid. As I recall, it worked the first time I booted the system.
I used a short password that the system said was not safe, but I did not care at this time. I looked at the /etc/password file from another system and there was no entry for root at all!
I there a way to mount the system using the rescue boot option so that I can change my user password back? And how do I get root back? I have never had to do an adduser root. Did the system get angry at my short passwords and just ignore them? I would have expected the installation to halt if it could not generate a root account. I assume opensuse does have a root account?
Don
I see that Felix has given you a link where it is explained how you can change your password for root, but I don't think that this will solve your problem because from what you write above you don't understand how the use of passwords works in a Linux distribution (at least in openSUSE). Let's take this step at time. "I did a 13.2 install from the DVD, leaving the mark highlighted that indicated that the user and root password would be the same (I think). When I tried to su to root, it said the password was invalid." Where did you "....tried to su to root," ? The Terminal? Unlike Fedora (etc), openSUSE operates on the basis that you will have a unique USER password and a unique ROOT password; however, when you install openSUSE you CAN have both (USER, ROOT) set to the same password - NOT desirable but possible as you found out. "When I tried to su to root, it said the password was invalid." The only way this could happen is that you either forgot the password or the CAPS LOCK was on. Which was it? "When I logged of, it also said that the user password was now invalid." When you Logoff openSUSE does NOT ask you for your password - so it cannot 'say' that the password is invalid. How did you try to Logoff? Exact process please. "I used a short password that the system said was not safe, but I did not care at this time." This is fine. Using a short password is not recommended but oS (openSUSE) will accept it. [#] " I looked at the /etc/password file from another system and there was no entry for root at all!" Why in heaven's name would you look at another system?! You are posting here asking about an alleged problem with oS so referring to "another system" does nothing but muddy the waters :-) . [#] Are you sure that you installed 13.2, I repeat 13.2, and not something like 12.3? I don't recall 13.2 now having a hernia if you provide a terrible password for either the USER or ROOT - 13.2 just accepts what you type in. At least it has done so for me over the past several installs. Prior to 13.2 'it' would warn you that the password was less than desirable. BC -- Using openSUSE 13.2, KDE 4.14.3 & kernel 3.18.5-1 on a system with- AMD FX 8-core 3.6/4.2GHz processor 16GB PC14900/1866MHz Quad Channel RAM Gigabyte AMD3+ m/board; Gigabyte nVidia GTX660 GPU -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
don fisher wrote:
I am trying to leave a Fedora environment and am having problems with the root and user password. I did a 13.2 install from the DVD, leaving the mark highlighted that indicated that the user and root password would be the same (I think).
I am not aware of such a tickbox - you are first asked to enter your user details + password, on the next screen you're asked to providethe root password.
When I tried to su to root, it said the password was invalid. When I logged of, it also said that the user password was now invalid.
The latter doesn't sound right - there is no password validation when you log off.
I used a short password that the system said was not safe, but I did not care at this time.
Sure, it's unsafe, but that's your problem.
I there a way to mount the system using the rescue boot option so that I can change my user password back? And how do I get root back?
Yes. You boot the rescue system, mount your root file system, then you gain access by: cd /mnt (or wherever you've mounted the root file system) mount -o bind /proc proc mount -o bind /dev dev mount -o bind /sys sys chroot . to set the root password simply run "passwd". If you want to change the a user password, it's "passwd <username>". When you're done: exit umount proc dev sys cd umount /mnt And reboot.
I have never had to do an adduser root. Did the system get angry at my short passwords and just ignore them? I would have expected the installation to halt if it could not generate a root account. I assume opensuse does have a root account?
Yes it does. You won't need to add it. -- Per Jessen, Zürich (-1.4°C) http://www.dns24.ch/ - free dynamic DNS, made in Switzerland. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA256 On 2015-02-06 09:24, Per Jessen wrote:
don fisher wrote:
I am trying to leave a Fedora environment and am having problems with the root and user password. I did a 13.2 install from the DVD, leaving the mark highlighted that indicated that the user and root password would be the same (I think).
I am not aware of such a tickbox - you are first asked to enter your user details + password, on the next screen you're asked to providethe root password.
The tick box exists. The current default, during install, is to use the same password for root and first user, unless you change the tick mark.
When I tried to su to root, it said the password was invalid. When I logged of, it also said that the user password was now invalid.
The latter doesn't sound right - there is no password validation when you log off.
He probably means that he logged-off and tried to log-in again, and could not, - -- Cheers / Saludos, Carlos E. R. (from 13.1 x86_64 "Bottle" (Minas Tirith)) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.22 (GNU/Linux) iF4EAREIAAYFAlTVOroACgkQja8UbcUWM1ywzwD/fLT83qCGls0t1o3RUbcQO0ix y2lzqKpMaygKilGtr38A/1pZOKr1jaJox0QD9BKxHySzCoQr9+JHWCKegIaH9fd6 =Jq1y -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
Carlos E. R. wrote:
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On 2015-02-06 09:24, Per Jessen wrote:
don fisher wrote:
I am trying to leave a Fedora environment and am having problems with the root and user password. I did a 13.2 install from the DVD, leaving the mark highlighted that indicated that the user and root password would be the same (I think).
I am not aware of such a tickbox - you are first asked to enter your user details + password, on the next screen you're asked to providethe root password.
The tick box exists. The current default, during install, is to use the same password for root and first user, unless you change the tick mark.
I guess I've long had the habit of always unclicking it without even reading the text. -- Per Jessen, Zürich (-3.4°C) http://www.hostsuisse.com/ - dedicated server rental in Switzerland. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
02/06/15 15:05, Carlos E. R. wrote:
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On 2015-02-06 09:24, Per Jessen wrote:
don fisher wrote:
I am trying to leave a Fedora environment and am having problems with the root and user password. I did a 13.2 install from the DVD, leaving the mark highlighted that indicated that the user and root password would be the same (I think).
I am not aware of such a tickbox - you are first asked to enter your user details + password, on the next screen you're asked to providethe root password.
The tick box exists. The current default, during install, is to use the same password for root and first user, unless you change the tick mark.
When I tried to su to root, it said the password was invalid. When I logged of, it also said that the user password was now invalid.
The latter doesn't sound right - there is no password validation when you log off.
He probably means that he logged-off and tried to log-in again, and could not,
- -- Cheers / Saludos,
Thanks:-) I thought the community would have given me credit enough to have logged out first. I did the install again, this time with a longer passwords, and there were no problems. I may try again with a short password, just to see if it was me or SUSE ignored the short one. Thanks, Don -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
On 02/11/2015 01:16 PM, don fisher wrote:
He probably means that he logged-off and tried to log-in again, and could not,
- -- Cheers / Saludos,
Thanks:-) I thought the community would have given me credit enough to have logged out first.
NOT. When I have that class of problem I don't log out. I hot key to another virtual terminal or xterm depending on context so that I can examine what processes are running WITHOUT DESTROYING THE CONTEXT that has the problem. Context, as I keep saying, is everything. Other virtual terminals are active during install, IIR, with such things as progress logs. I seem to recall that there was a version that also had a VT with a command prompt but I can't recall when that was.
I did the install again, this time with a longer passwords, and there were no problems. I may try again with a short password, just to see if it was me or SUSE ignored the short one.
That us an interesting test and may be different at install. Some sites, some applications bitch and complain, even refuse, shorter or "not strong enough" passwords. Some don't. Some don't even case about case. Yes, install-time vs run-time differences .... Something to note. We expect consistency, but we don't always get it :-( -- A: Yes. > Q: Are you sure? >> A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation. >>> Q: Why is top posting frowned upon? -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
Le 06/02/2015 04:37, don fisher a écrit :
care at this time. I looked at the /etc/password file from another system and there was no entry for root at all!
others have given clues. Let me comment on this part. if really you don't have any root entry in /etc/passwd, there is a problem and you shouldn't have be able to connect the first time! you should have: cat /etc/passwd | grep root root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash the same exact thing for anybody. the passwd is *not* in this file, it's in the /etc/shadow file. you should have a line in the shadow file, beginning with "root". if you have access to these file from an other install (or any rescue disk), simply copy the above line to /etc/passwd. then, edit /etc/shadow. the second field of the line is the passwd hash the simpler way is to copy/paste in this file the hash of the user to replace the root one, so you give them the same passwd. I once forgot the root passwd, but not the user one, so I had the user line good, with an working hash. of course, fix the passwd problem when accessing normally the system. but be warned that often this problem means that the install was not well done, probably incomplete for whatever reason and may be unstable. jdd -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
jdd wrote:
you should have:
cat /etc/passwd | grep root root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
grep ^root /etc/passwd :-) -- Per Jessen, Zürich (-1.8°C) http://www.hostsuisse.com/ - dedicated server rental in Switzerland. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
On 06/02/15 19:54, Per Jessen wrote:
jdd wrote:
you should have:
cat /etc/passwd | grep root root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash grep ^root /etc/passwd
:-)
Gentleman, the chap is trying to move from Fedora to openSUSE and so it does not help overwhelming him with techo jargon such as "cat /etc/passwd | grep root root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash" :-( . He needs more help moving from Fedora to openSUSE than he would if he moved from Windows or MAC to openSUSE - so be kind :-) . BC -- Using openSUSE 13.2, KDE 4.14.3 & kernel 3.18.5-1 on a system with- AMD FX 8-core 3.6/4.2GHz processor 16GB PC14900/1866MHz Quad Channel RAM Gigabyte AMD3+ m/board; Gigabyte nVidia GTX660 GPU -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
Le 07/02/2015 06:15, Basil Chupin a écrit :
Gentleman, the chap is trying to move from Fedora to openSUSE and so it does not help overwhelming him with techo jargon such as "cat /etc/passwd | grep root
the OP already tried to edit the opensuse passwd from fedora install, so I guess he is ready to use these instructions. If not he can say jdd -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org
participants (7)
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Anton Aylward -
Basil Chupin -
Carlos E. R. -
don fisher -
Felix Miata -
jdd -
Per Jessen