[HOWTO] - Enable Root Login to Mac OSX

[houchin]

Or just do what almost everyone, includding Apple, recommends: Don't enable the root password. sudo can do everything you need.

use "sudo <cmd>" to just execute single commands, or "sudo -s" to start a new command line shell with root privledges.

By enabling root, you open up a whole lot of security issues, especially for network connected systems (almost all of the sendmail and such hacks rely on the attacker having root access). If you don't enable root access, then all of these attacks are cut off.

[alito]

what is sudo command?
i have to type sudo?

[houchin]

sudo stands for "superuser do"

It allows you to execute other commands as if you were logged in as root.
You log into the system and open terminal as normal. Just put "sudo"
before the command you want to execute as root (or superuser).
For example, to edit the inet config file, you would enter:

sudo vi /etc/inetd.conf

It will then ask you for your password, and you give it your normal password
(as long as you're an admin user). If you "sudo" another command within
a few minutes, it remembers that you've already proved your an admin and you don't have to type your password.

If you have a lot of stuff to do as root, type "sudo -s" as a command all by itself and it starts a new shell as root. Type "exit" when you're done to return to non-root status.

You do not want to enable the root password, because thsi will prevent a lot of security problems which rely on someone logging on as root (like through sendmail)

[ZeroAltitude]

Hi,

The thing I have not yet figured out (just 3 weeks in, forgive me!) is how you'd launch GUI apps from the command line with sudo <command>. I enabled root partly because there were some apps that 'won't run in console mode' but needed to be root to do some of the things I wanted.

I know how to tell X apps how to launch in a running X display, but how do you run Aqua apps from the command line in mac OSX?

-ZeroAltitude

[houchin]

You can try:

sudo open -a <app>

For example, to launch BBEdit 6.5 as root, you could enter

sudo open -a "BBEdit 6.5"

(The quotes are only required if there's a space in the application name)

This is the equivalent of double clicking on a file in the finder.

You can also get the shareware app "Pseudo" which does it with a GUI
interface.

[xoot]

2 steps to make enabling root EASIER (via Terminal)

1) Type "sudo passwd root" and type in the root password

2) Root user is enabled! Now you can just select the "other user" checkbox in System Preferences and logout. Then, click on other user and type in:

"root" for the login field

Your password for the password field

[rezba]

yes, but you're log as root for the all session. sudo allows you to temporarily act as root, just for what you need. wich is more secure.

[xoot]

I meant logging into the GUI, not into Terminal.