[HOWTO] - Enable Root Login to Mac OSX

[alito]

Can someone tell me how can i login as a root administrator?
thanxs

[simX]

You need to enable it first, for obvious security reasons. I would recommend against this -- if you need to do something that can be done via the Terminal, you can get temporary root access by using the "sudo" command.

But if you REALLY want to login as root, here's how to enable it and login as root:

1. Open the NetInfo Manager application in the /Applications/Utilities folder.

2. Go to the Domain menu, then drag down to the Security submenu, and choose "Authenticate...". Put in an administrator login and password and press return or the "OK" button.

3. Go again to the Domain menu, again to the Security submenu, and then drag down to the "Enable Root User..." menu item.

4. You probably won't have put in a root user password yet. It will prompt you to provide a root user password and verify it. Do so.

5. Root user is now enabled. Now just logout from the Apple menu, and then at the login screen, use the login name "root" and provide the password you just set.

This will log you in as the root user. Note that you can do ANYTHING when logged in as root, including deleting essential files. Proceed with caution.

[onan]

Or, if you're into hot hot Terminal action, just:

sudo passwd root

Which basically ends up doing the same thing. Use whichever is more comfortable for you.

[simX]

(See title -- 'nuf said. What's with the "passwd" entry, though? I thought you could just do "sudo whateveryouwanttodohere" and you could get temporary root access.)

[Captain Code]

You can either do:
sudo mycommand
and it will prompt you for your password
password:

or you can do
sudo mycommand password

[simX]

I just tried the command format "sudo mycommand password" and it still asks for the password and interprets 'password' as the target or option for mycommand. I don't believe UNIX would allow the password to be shown in full text, anyway.

[Captain Code]

Oh, well, maybe I was wrong, I thought that would work.

[alito]

Thanxs to allllllll