How Can I Create a Root Account?

[Donuts]

Hello everybody, sorry for such a noob question.  How do I create a root account?  With a fresh Debien install there is a prompt during installation to create a root user.  I have just installed LXDE R8  32 bit and I think there is no root user created yet.  Also when I type sudo into the terminal it doe not prompt me for a sudo password.  It just prints the options for using sudo.  I think I am missing something obvious here.

[biffster]

Hi there, you do not need to create a root account unless there is a another reason you want one.. I purposely setup wattOS this way so it would be closer to a ubuntu type experience for those with not a lot of Debian experience. If you need to elevate your privileges to do a command enter "sudo" and the command all on one line. When you enter sudo alone its not going to do anything unless you follow it with a command which is why it is giving all the command options (because the command is "super user do something" thus the command sudo). So for example if you wanted to run a root version of the file manager pcmanfm you would enter "sudo pcmanfm" it prompts you for your password. Enter it and it will launch a root version of that application.

If you are having problems launching graphical programs natively with your password (EG. its failing) there is a well documented bug in the forums with the installer that might apply to your situation.

Enter the command "gksu-properties" in a terminal and check the top menu setting is set to "sudo" and not "su" for your graphical programs to work properly.

Hope that helps....biff

[Donuts]

Biff,

thanks for nothing!  Just kidding   Thank you for clearing up my issue with sudo.  It is true that I do not have a need for su that I cannot do with sudo.  However it does feel odd, to me, to own a computer that I do not have root access to.  Not having the freedom to mess up and screw with my OS as root seems very un-free software like to me.

[biffster]

Hi there...without getting into some debate about freedom which I am not interested in doing, you are free to mess up your system any way you like. I am not preventing anything. I was/am trying to make the experience smooth for people who might not be as comfortable with Debian vs other environments.

when you are "sudo"ing something, you are doing it with root privs... Want to launch the file manager as root? open a terminal and sudo "command" and you can delete, mess up whatever you like.

If you want a root account, follow the steps below to enable.

first - enable shadow passwords (reference my alert in the forum about hardening password security anyway).

In a terminal

'sudo pwconv'

then

'sudo passwd root'

enter your sudo password (your current user password)

then enter what you want as a root password twice. (follow the prompts)

then you have a root account and you can 'su' , logout and login as root (of course everything will look much different). etc.

enjoy

[Donuts]

Biff,thanks you for the info! I appreciate the help.  I am really enjoying R8 so far.  It is a great distribution.