Root users -_- ...?

D

dc_firedrake

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 3, 2001
Messages
291
Is there anyway I can add root privledges to my account on SuSE?

I'm sure there is but I don't see it -.- ... I tried to put my user in the "root" group but that didn't do anything
 
i'd advise you don't do that.

if you need to get root privilidges from the command line: just type 'su' and enter your root password. you should notice the command line looks a little different as you now have root privilidges.
 
Giving users root level access is wrong and insecure. Like the other poster said, if you need to do something as root, type 'su' at the command line.
 
Originally posted by BriguyNJ
i'd advise you don't do that.
Click to expand...
Agreed.

By adding yourself to the root group, you give yourself permissions to anything that has permissions in the root group, not that big of a deal. root is a special account, treated special by the OS, and should only be used as needed.

If it helps, I don't even think of root as an account on the system. It is a method to do priviledged things on the computer, nothing more.
 
Everyhing they've said is true for a server, but just how mission critical is your home box? If you're like me you have a hardware firewall, don't have any ports open for remote entrance anyway, and have spare machines sitting around if you screw the main one up. root is the only user I have on my machine, and I have a 10 digit lower password limit rule. I did this the last time I installed, and haven't looked back.
 
Originally posted by NewBlackDak
Everyhing they've said is true for a server, but just how mission critical is your home box? If you're like me you have a hardware firewall, don't have any ports open for remote entrance anyway, and have spare machines sitting around if you screw the main one up. root is the only user I have on my machine, and I have a 10 digit lower password limit rule. I did this the last time I installed, and haven't looked back.
Click to expand...
Still a bad idea. There are linux virii out there, and exploits, ect...., by running as root, you loose the protection the kernel has built in against this kind of stuff, and you increase the damage potential of a virus.

Or even a poorly written program. If run as a regular user, if a program pukes and does the worst imaginable, the damage is pretty much limited to the home directory of the user. If running as root, the entire system could be wiped out.
 
Originally posted by NewBlackDak
Everyhing they've said is true for a server, but just how mission critical is your home box? If you're like me you have a hardware firewall, don't have any ports open for remote entrance anyway, and have spare machines sitting around if you screw the main one up. root is the only user I have on my machine, and I have a 10 digit lower password limit rule. I did this the last time I installed, and haven't looked back.
Click to expand...
:eek: :eek: :eek:
Reeducation time. It isn't about if the system is a server or if it is mission critical or anything. Firewalls and ports don't have anything to do with running as root. Passwords don't have anything to do with you running as root. When you run as root, your whole system is open all the time. Just look at windows. Windows users almost always run as admin, and it is really easy to hose the system. Don't let that happen to you. There is absolutely no need to run as root. NO need. If you are running as root and you run a program, then that program has full access to everything on your system. Do you trust stuff you download to everything on your system? There is no reason those programs need access to everything on your system. Some programs need special access to certain devices, but that certainly isn't a good reason to run as root all the time. There is no undo command in linux. You delete something as root and it is gone. If a program goes and renames all the files on your system then you are screwed. If you just ran as a regular user then all the program could touch is your own files. Your files might get screwed up, but you still have a fully functional operating system. It is really not wise to allow userspace programs to have access to core operating system files. Unix was designed 30 years ago with that in mind, and that is how it has worked ever since then. I can't tell you how to run your own system, but please do not go around saying that running as root full time is okay. It is not.
 
root BAD! *horizontal hand wave*

normal user GOOD!

su - GOOD!





Napster Bad lives on.
 
a good rule of thumb to have is to never run any x applications as root, unless it is something nececary, like a network sniffer.
newblackdak, sorry but thats a horrible idea. the main problem is; even if you never get hacked (its stilll possible, unless your entirely disconnected to the net), there is still the risk of mistyping a command, you would be surprised how easy it is to fsck your entire install with one misplaced letter or flag, and thats just on the command line. if you are running x as root, clicking the mouse acceidientially in the wrong place can have the same effect. not to mention the risk of a buggy app crapping out on you in the middle of something, messing up your entire system. the risks of bugs are much more likely when there is an extra gui layer running too.
consider this:
i was at best buy yesterday and happened to stroll by a windows machine, acting as a kiosk, so the start menu and toolbars were not shown, nevertheless, a quick ctl alt del fixed this and i click start and there at the top of the menu the familier text "Administrator." that is typical windows security there, i could have done anything i wanted on the system right then. (dont worry i didnt install s7 or anything). then i went by the mac section, and there was an imac (a *nix too) in kiosk mode as well. a quick whoami, and what do i get? most definatly not uid=0
i realize you do not have a publically acessibly machine, but i think this is a good demonstration of win32 vs *nix security principles and effects.
 
Originally posted by mwarps
root BAD! *horizontal hand wave*

normal user GOOD!

su - GOOD!





Napster Bad lives on.
Click to expand...

Napster! Napster!
On this week's edition of Metalicops . . . ;)

those clips are awesome.

anyhow,

There are just too many things that you don't need access to (read screw up) when doing everyday things.

BTW: this is why so many windows boxes are attacked. The default permissions for the main user are Administrator level.

Just su to root if and when you need it.
 
Originally posted by cloaked
...
consider this:
i was at best buy yesterday and happened to stroll by a windows machine, acting as a kiosk, so the start menu and toolbars were not shown, nevertheless, a quick ctl alt del fixed this and i click start and there at the top of the menu the familier text "Administrator." that is typical windows security there, i could have done anything i wanted on the system right then. (dont worry i didnt install s7 or anything). then i went by the mac section, and there was an imac (a *nix too) in kiosk mode as well. a quick whoami, and what do i get? most definatly not uid=0
i realize you do not have a publically acessibly machine, but i think this is a good demonstration of win32 vs *nix security principles and effects.
Click to expand...

Well the windows being logged in as an admin was not necisarily the fault of the OS (although I'm not arguing the point that win32 has bad security) just a dumb techie who set it up... those guys are usually pretty good about that, around where I am at leasts (ruins all my fun -_- )

Well I can see that it would be a bad idea to be root all the time. But I am trying to run a network sniffer and it doesn't work unless I have root privies...

Anyway I can run it without being logged in as root (in the GUI I mean)

Thanks!
<SK>
 
pr0pensity is just asking for it. well then everything we have said goes for you as well ;)
dc_firedrake- just su in a console, then type the name of the program you are trying to run. it will launch it as root. if you get an x error, copy /home/reg_user/.Xauthority /root and try again.
you can also look into sudo if you regularly use an app that requires root
 
My entire system is backed up every day, so if there is something critical it'll still be there. Most of the time it's as easy as untarring my backup. If it gets really screwed up I can re-install in less than a day, and be totally functional. There is no sensitive information, and my very important files are stored via NFS on a server with hardware Raid-1 running. I never log into it as root, and the root password is changed once a month.
 
Originally posted by dc_firedrake

Anyway I can run it without being logged in as root (in the GUI I mean)

Thanks!
<SK>
Click to expand...


Look at the link I posted at the top of the thread.
 
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