root login at console ...

[K.C. Chan]

I've just got a pre-install RH from Dell. For educational purpose, I am wondering how did they set up root accesss at console level without providing the password. When I set the password, then root access at console require password to get in. How is this done? Thanks.

[Mark Fenton]

might they have just set it to null?

When one's installing linux, I don't believe the installer actually requires you to give root a passwd, though of course one should.

[Kodjo Agbenu · Accepted solution]

Hello,

Do you know about the securetty mechanism ?

In the /etc/securetty, you put the device name of the login terminals that you consider as secured (generally, only virtual consoles tty1, tty2, ... tty6).
Doing this, root cannot login from anywhere else than what specified in /etc/securetty, even when presenting the good password.

In case of your Dell installation, I guess you have a /etc/securetty file but no root password.

Be warned that by doing this, any people that have access to the console can login as root without any password.

If you want a more secured mechanism, even that allows remote logins via the network, you may want to use SSH (secure shell). Install the OpenSSH package, then read the ssh manpage to know how to configure.

Good luck.

Kodjo

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