We have a couple of clusters that are running Oracle. If you're familiar with Oracle you know that it basically has to be installed as root. Something I detest. anyway, when we are building out the box, we change the root pw and give it to the DBA team to do their installs and configs. When they are done, we change the root pw (and do not give it to them), and configure sudo to allow them the rights needed to manage Oracle and their databases.
Now however, we have a different situation. The DBAs need access to uninstall and reinstall components and make modifications on an ongoing basis. Since we only support OS and hardware, not app, they are requesting permanent root access. I promptly told them no, and the politics ensued. Their manager went to their director, who went to my director, and suddenly an exception is given for his good golfing buddy. So here I am, forced to turn lose DBAs on my clusters with full root access/pw. I need a way to allow specific users (or perhaps a specific user group) the ability to become root WITHOUT sharing the root pw with them.
Stumped on this one. I'm trying to set up limited sudo authority on a desktop with some sensitive user data, and as an extra precaution I wanted to configure sudo to use a password other than the user's or the root's. I'm not sure how to do this. From the manual, we have a few options, such as "runaspw" or "targetpw", but none seem quite what I'm looking for.For instance, "runaspw" could be used if I created a user for nothing other than sudo(ing) purposes, but it requires you set "runas_default", which means that said user would have to have authority to execute said commands in the first place. This is workable, but seems like a lot of extra configuration for each specific command that I want to run, as well as creating some issues with simply commands such as "shutdown" or "reboot". Also, "targetpw" can be used in conjunction with a sudo(ing)-only user if I set an alias, but, again, this isn't quite what I am looking for.
Ultimately, what I am really concerned about in this situation are keystroke loggers, so I would prefer to avoid repeated entering the user or root password when performing administrative tasks. Also, I would prefer not having to create a sudo(ing)-only user as mentioned above to prevent a comprimised password resulting in an attacker being able to log into my system.
I was trying to edit a file requiring root permissions, so I used sudo. I typed the root password and it failed. This happened three times, and the process was ended. I then logged in as root (su) and was able to navigate to the file and make changes as root. Am I missing something? How would I edit the sudoers file such that this password would work? Or is there another way to log in to the sudo group to make these changes? How do I set sudo passwords?
When i install or upgrade the system I want to be asked for the root password instead of just the normal password for sudo. The reason for this is that the kids and so on uses my system and know my password. They do not know my root password though. I do not want them to install or mess up my system by pure fumbling, so is this possible to do. A simple change in who runs the updater/install features...
I need to run a command in a terminal, but cannot get root. I can in "Add Software" to install, I know and tried all the passwords I know from the install, but no show.What can I do?I tried sudo password, then typed in the space, no letters appear, but no success.TO "sudo password" after putting is my password, my username comes up and it says I am not in sudoers file.My Laptop has only one user, I know as I tried switching for a test.
I want to use root password instead of adding my user to the list of sudoers,In Arch wiki ander Root password:Users can configure sudo to ask for the root password instead of the user password by adding "rootpw" to the Defaults line in /etc/sudoers: but that did not work for me. it asks for root password.Why do I want to do that: 1. I want to do that, I like sudo more than su -c 'some_command'. 2. sudo enables bash completion, su -c does not. 3. I don't want to add my user to sudoers list.
I found many users Suggesting alternatives and lowering the important of my need for this, when I asked this question in anther please.
When I run sudo as a normal unprivileged user, it asks for my password, not the root password. That's often convenient, but it reduces the amount of information someone would have to have in order to run commands as root. So how can I make sudo ask for the root password instead of the invoking user's password? I know it'd be done with a line in /etc/sudoers, but I can never seem to properly parse the BNF grammar in the man page to figure out exactly what to write.
when I try to do admin tasks - e.g. setting my wireless connection to "available to all users" or updating a group's settings - it asks for "password for root" rather than asking for my password so it can sudo.I was forced to enable the root password, so I could do anything on my system ( sudo su; passwd; ) but I'd rather keep my root password locked and use sudo if possible.
I have a RHEL 5.5 system set up with two users in the sudoers file to run certain commands without a password prompt.I do not have "Defaults requiretty" in the sudoers file.However, for both users, when I issue: sudo -l, it prompts for a password and logs in /var/log/secure:sudo: userx: no tty present and no askpass program specified
I have just installed Lenny on a Thinkpad R50p. During the install I opted for no root password, using the sudo option instead (I've been used to this on Kubuntu for a long time). After installing, I added KDE 3.5 with apt-get install kde-desktop - all seems to be OK, except that I am unable to add packages or perform tasks for which a root / admin password is needed. It seems that the install-time choice of sudo (shared password) does not propagate to the KDE install, which is still expecting a root password.
how to either enable the KDE desktop to work with this shared password setup, or whether there is a better route to a KDE 3.5 desktop than just installing as I did (I am aware of Trinity KDE 3.5 but the Pearson Computing source is still not up, are those packages available for Lenny anywhere else, and are they recommended?). I can of course rerun the whole install and choose root & user passwords but if there is a smarter solution it would be less of a 'reinstall Windows' type of fix
I've had a very frustrating time the last few months trying to find a KDE4 based desktop that is stable enough and not lacking some basic functions (print manager, for goodness sake), so I have temporarily thrown in the towel and will try a Stable installation that is not changing (breaking) all the time, until KDE4 series gets past this adolescent stage of development and settles down.
I do need to get back to a system I can work on rather than keep on trying different installations!
I upgraded from Super Ubuntu 2008.11 to Ubuntu 10.04.1 online ( my mistake ). Now I can boot into Ubuntu 10.04 with 2 kernel options and a failsafe. However I can only boot as a user ( rejean ) and not as su or sudo. My other problem is that I don't have a gui. I would like to do a Code:sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorgbut there is no password that works.What should I do?
In security terms, would using sudo instead of root be safer? I'd actually prefer to use this if so; I like sudo an awful lot. (It's Mark Shuttleworth's fault)
In Ubuntu 10.04, I logged in as user1 and when I open a new terminal and issue any command it is asking password.user@ubun-laptop:~$ sudo ifconfig[sudo] password for user: It is asking for password only for first time.From the next command onwards it is not asking.Can some one please tell me if it is possible to issue ONLY ONE COMMAND, in which even if the password request comes, it will automatically fill the password.Just like "ps -elf | grep NetworkManager". I am expecting any combination of commands in a single line, so that password is filled automatically IF PASSWORD IS ASKED. If password is not asked, the command must be executed.
I have been reading guides for a while now and so far have not found an exact solution to my problem.
I want a linux user (dave) to be able to switch to another account (patrol) without a password prompt, but dave must still be denied access to root. Patrol must also be denied root access.
In the sudoers file
Code: User_Alias Patrol=dave,john root ALL=(ALL) ALL Patrol ALL=(patrol) NOPSSWD: ALL
I've set up a user account for friends & colleagues that does NOT require a login password. Unfortunately, in this OS some things don't work unless you login -- sudo Must regular users have AND use Root's password?
I found this on Bee's website. For more info on this exploit there are links there:[URl]..All you have to do in Fedora 13 is enter the following lines in a shell as normal user:
[Code]...
I don't think this can be considered solely an "upstream" problem, because I first tried it in Arch using the same version of glibc, and the final command causes both gnome-terminal and xterm windows to disappear.
Protect against root password change[Log in to get rid of this advertisement]I have recently had to force a change of the root password on a linux box I was running. It was a test system which I had not used in a while, so I forgot the root password (not so smart).Anyway, I found that it was amazingly easy to reset the root password. Here is a straight forward article on how to do it.URL...
My question is: how can you protect against this? I see this as a security hole.I understand that the user must have physical access to the computer, but if I want to lock the system down so you cannot easily enter single user mode or the root password cannot be changed.
Found a major security hole in one of my more crucial linux servers today. (Only locally) I can use the user name "root" and any string for the password. So I can literally type "poop" as the password and the server lets me in. I know how to set root password settings for SSH and sudo, but where are settings located for local access that would allow something like this?
Can't seem to do it, wondering if anyone knows how? Normally there's something in sshd_config that can be switched to true or yes to allow root login but I can't see it in fedora 12.I can login via root at a terminal no problem, just not via ssh, I get access denied every time. Also, I need to login using password authentication.I've done: 227169 but that's just for GUI which I don't really need since I rarely ever log into the GUI.I have also searched through here and mostly only found info such as above, how to enable root login for GUI, or billions of posts about how logingin as root is bad but I cannotswer to my question.DISCLAIMER: Please do not reply to this thread if all you can contribute is the question of why I need root or to put some message telling me I can do everything using su, etc, etc. Please only contribute if you can answer my question. A: My machine and a valid quesiton. B: Spirit of Linux is open, not restrictive
I've been using Ubuntu for like a year now. Whenever I want root privileges I just type sudo and enter my User password. I wanna know if there's a way to change this, in a way that My User password is: "ABC" and the password needed to have root privileges is: "ABC123". I have no problem using the terminal, I actually prefer it to any GUI, it just seems easier to me.
To comply with standards I need to change the root pw every so often. However, I really don't have a need to know the root password; as the only thing using root, is for ssh authenticating via ssh keys. What I want to do is automate the root password change monthly via a cron job, to a random value. Is there a way to do this without knowing the previous password?
I have recently installed Fedora 14 on a new computer we presented as a gift to my sister-in-law. She is new to Linux. Although I've used Fedora since Core 1, I'm no expert on security issues, and this baffles me. She's doesn't know how to change the root password, so why doesn't it work any more? She discovered the problem when attempting a yum update from a terminal.(1) How could the root password have gotten changed? How likely is it that someone got onto her system through ssh, made a lucky guess on her root password, and then changed it? Are there robots that do this?
(2) The firewall is enabled. I have it set up as follows: (a) under "Trusted Services," only ssh is checked (I need to be able to get in remotely this way); (b) under "Trusted Interfaces," I have eth0 checked (I need to be able to use VNConto her desktop).Question: Are these settings giving ample protection? What settings would be recommended to protect her system while at the same time allowing me to access it through ssh and VNC?
I try to install my printer again after reinstall ubuntu 9.04. ("downgraded from 9.10"). Instead of asking for the local-user-login password, as it does for other system changes, it asks for a root password that I never had. What happened? How can I set this right?I made a printscreen.
I have ubuntu 11.04 installed along side windows. And I often share files with windows computers. If I am installing a new package from ubuntu software center, and consquently I have to log in as root to do so, which means I have given the system 'privileges' as the program is being installed, I decide to go open mozilla, and surf suspicious sites on the net. Is it possible in that case for me to get a virus?
When we enter the password for the root user in order to run one program such as ubuntu software center, does that mean that all programs have root privileges for the time being (as the software center is installing the program)?
