Can not login as root after taking Red Hat Linux update

[Darren Etheridge_2]

I am running Red Hat Linux 5.5 and last night I took the updates from the Red Hat Linux site. Now when I try to login as root it acts like my passwd is wrong. I have gone in thru VNC and reset my password but I still can't login as root, but I can login as other non-root users. How can reenable root acccess thru telnet? HELP! THanks!

[Reiner Rottmann]

What do you mean "gone in thru VNC and reset my password"? Where you able to login as another user and then switch to root?

If so, you should keep that terminal open and run the following commands:

tail -f /var/log/secure &
tail -f /var/log/messages &

Then login as root from another terminal and note the error messages.

In case you were not able to switch your user to root, you might want to reset the password during reboot of the server. Use the kernel parameter init=/bin/bash in the GRUB shell of your bootloader (press 'e' to edit your boot stanza when the boot menu appears).

Some ssh daemon configurations prohibit the direct login of the root user or permit the login only on a local terminal.

The default configuration should allow root logins, though.

You are using SSH, right? Usually telnet logins are not configured as this is an insecure login method from the ages of the dinosaurs.