Enabling root login without an administrator account

[Tim Judd]

Chris St Denis wrote:
> Well, my second suggestion about creating an account and SUing to root 
> should still be correct. Assuming of course that you can get in in 
> single user mode.
>
> Take a look at /etc/ttys there may be something in there restricting 
> it, thats all I can think of.
>
>
> Veronica Labarca wrote:
>> Hi Chris,
>> Thanks for your quick response. No. I mean root login at the console is
>> dissallowed. Why??? Beats me! I got it that way. Viqui
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Chris St Denis [mailto:chris at smartt.com] Sent: Thursday, July 
>> 10, 2008 2:24 PM
>> To: Veronica Labarca
>> Cc: freebsd-questions at freebsd.org
>> Subject: Re: Enabling root login without an administrator account
>>
>>  Veronica Labarca wrote:
>>  
>>> Hi,
>>> I have inherited a FreeBSD server and need to change the apache 
>>> configuration, but cannot log in to the server. I have the root 
>>> password (and know how to change it if needed in any case). The 
>>> problem is that root login is disabled. There are various 
>>> administrative accounts on the server, but I don't have the password 
>>> to any of those. Can someone advise me as to either, how to get the 
>>> root login enabled or how to change the password on a different 
>>> account?
>>> Thanks for any help you can provide.
>>> Viqui
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> freebsd-questions at freebsd.org mailing list 
>>> http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions
>>> To unsubscribe, send any mail to
>>>     
>> "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe at freebsd.org"
>>  
>>>       
>> I'm assuming you mean root login via SSH is disabled (as is the 
>> default).
>> IIRC, root can always login from the console.
>>
>> Login as root from the console (or boot into single user mode) and edit
>> /etc/ssh/sshd_config
>>
>> Uncomment "PermitRootLogin" line and change no to yes.
>>
>> An alternate (and better) solution is to create yourself a user 
>> account in
>> the wheel group and use that to login then SU up to root.
>>
>>   
>
>
Maybe root logins on TTYv0 is disabled, but enabled on TTYv1-7.  Have 
you tried switching virtual consoles and logging in?  From the console, 
can you login as a regular user and su/sudo up?

Couple of ideas there -- all valid choices.