Hello,
You can also activate a root account by going to utilities and running
the Directory Utility and in the edit menu you can activate root and
set a root password. However, give this some serious consideration
before starting up the root account. also, after you use root, be sure
to deactivate it again in the Directory Utility.
Dan
On Jan 4, 2009, at 5:10 PM, Jacob Schmude wrote:
Hi Everett
The root user is disabled by default, i.e. you cannot log into it.
Your created account is an administrative account, but that does not
mean you can do anything unchecked. OS X relies on sudo for
operations that would normally require access, and having an
administrator gives you permission to utilize sudo. It also gives
you permission to directly copy to certain system folders, such as
Applications and Library.
In the event you need to do something that requires root access, you
will be asked for your account password for verification. If you
were running as a normal user (non-admin) you would need to enter
both the username and password of an admin account to temporarily
escolate your privileges for the duration of that operation.
You don't need to enable the root user under most circumstances. In
the terminal, from an administrator account, enter:
sudo su -
to su to root. You will need to enter your account password. You
have a root shell from that point until you log out of it by typing
"exit" or quitting the terminal application.
If you really do want to enable the root user, do the following:
Open Directory Utility, located under Applications/Utilities. Go to
the edit menu, and select "enable root user." Create a password for
root, and that's it. If this item is dimmed, you need to unlock
directory utility (if you're running as a non-admin account this
will be the case). To unlock it, VO down to the bottom of the window
and you will here "click the lock to make changes" button. Press
this, and enter an admin username and password, and it will be
unlocked and the root user can be enabled. Once done, you may log
into the system as root. I probably don't need to warn you, but I'm
going to anyway: be very, very, very careful as root. You won't be
prompted for anything, no matter what the consequences might be.
hth
On Jan 4, 2009, at 19:41, E.J. Zufelt wrote:
Good evening,
I don't remember having to specifiy a password for a root or
administrative account for OS X.
1. Is my default user an administrative user?
there a root / administrative account and how do I get to it?
Thanks,
Everett
2. Is
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