On 01/02/2010 04:06 PM, ken yap wrote:
>
> docduke;2097075 Wrote:
>> It still appears to me that a lost root password requires an
>> intervention from the recovery system. I guess the details of the
>> process shall remain obscure, probably to the relief of the security
>> gurus.
>
> That has always been the case on Unix/Linux. Otherwise an ordinary user
> could initiate an “I lost the root password” recovery without using a
> recovery system and change the root password.
>
> However if a user has sudo permissions or similar, it could be changed
> from there.
I will not publish it here, but there is a way to make the root account have no
password without running a rescue system.
>
>I tried it. Commented out the line you suggested. Result:
>
>-passwd
>Old password:
>passwd: Authentication token manipulation error.-
>
>When I take out the “#” it goes back to the complaint. In any case, I
>have been able to set the root password at what I want, and I don’t need
>to change the other password, so I’m OK for now, but my general
>observation applies:
>
>-openSuSE appears to be aiming at a commercial audience, and they’re
>tightening up the security features enough that it may leave the more
>casual user, and even the unsophisticated commercial user, frustrated.-
>
>The real issue that is hanging over my latest install is this: -It is
>not uncommon for new users to mistype, forget or misspell the root
>password.- The method I used some years ago to repair that problem does
>not work. The one earlier in this thread also does not work, and it
>took me about 20 minutes of searching to even find that post from last
>Summer. Root password recovery is not mentioned in the FAQs, even
>though I know that is a frequent, urgent issue.
>
>SuSE is now making it difficult (impossible?) for even moderately
>experienced systems guys to recover from a lost root password. That is
>a major issue regarding usability.
By the way docduke, there are settings in Suse that allow you to control
just what that machine will consider an acceptable password. Try changing
those settings to your taste.
