How to change the root user?

Message

rmcellig · #1 Post by **rmcellig** » Thu 10 Dec 2015, 19:01

Is it possible and advisable to change the root user and password to something else? I want to use my own user I'd and password instead of the default that comes with puppy Linux.

I'm using Tahr pup 6.0.3.

bigpup · #2 Post by **bigpup** » Thu 10 Dec 2015, 20:18

I think all that would do is change the name and password needed to boot Puppy.
The boot process uses the default.
Do you want to have to enter this, at boot, to proceed with the boot?
You would still be running as root.

Surprised you have not read this:
http://puppylinux.com/technical/root.htm

In Tahrpup there is menu->System->Login and Security Manager.

rmcellig · #3 Post by **rmcellig** » Thu 10 Dec 2015, 20:45

Thanks bigpup but that's not what I am looking to do.. I just want to change the name from root to randy, and the password woofwoof to something else.

6502coder · #4 Post by **6502coder** » Fri 11 Dec 2015, 21:44

Hmm...

My first impulse was to say, No, you can't rename root, because "root" is a fixed name. In a proper multi-user UNIX/Linux (which Puppy is not) you could add a new user and give that user root privileges, but you can't rename root itself.

On the other hand...there is the matter of UIDs (user ids). By convention, in any UNIX/Linux system, root is the user with UID zero. So one could pose the question, is it possible to change the name associated with UID zero from "root" to something else? I don't know.

Assuming that one CAN change the name of the user who has UID zero, would it break Puppy? I don't know that either.

puppyluvr · #5 Post by **puppyluvr** » Sat 12 Dec 2015, 00:46

Hello,
Many puppies have the ability to change the user ID to Spot or Fido.
However the implementation of multiple users in Puppy is not very well, well, implemented.. Lol.
Puppy was never designed to be a multi-user system, so any attempt to use it as such can run into problems.
Puppy provide a better answer.
Multiple save files allow each user to have an individual set up.
You just choose which save file at boot up...

bigpup · #6 Post by **bigpup** » Sat 12 Dec 2015, 04:59

Here is some options information:
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=97769

6502coder · #7 Post by **6502coder** » Sun 13 Dec 2015, 23:38

puppyluvr wrote:Many puppies have the ability to change the user ID to Spot or Fido.

To be clear, there is a difference between a user NAME and a user ID: spot and fido are user names: whereas the user ID is a number, typically the third field in the /etc/passwd file entry.

I suspect, but am not sure, that UNIX/Linux systems determine who is the "root" user by checking for the user with user ID zero, not by checking for the user with the user name "root". That's why I suggested that the OP's original question could be rephrased more precisely as "Is it possible to change the user name of the user who has user ID zero?" Spot and fido are users who are distinct from the root user, and they do not have user ID zero.

disciple · #8 Post by **disciple** » Mon 14 Dec 2015, 04:55

Google throws up some pretty helpful looking answers e.g.https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=93881

musher0 · #9 Post by **musher0** » Mon 14 Dec 2015, 07:12

Hello rmcellig.

Why? Puppy is already very secure as it is. We've
had probably 100 threads on this forum discussing this.

Not to mention the 11th Commandment:
"Thou shalt not complicate your life needlessly."

BFN.

greengeek · #10 Post by **greengeek** » Sat 29 Oct 2016, 04:34

musher0 wrote:Why? Puppy is already very secure as it is. We've
had probably 100 threads on this forum discussing this. .

Hi musher - each time I review this question I ask myself - what is it specifically that makes puppy secure?

Can you offer some suggestions?

Let me ask a specific question:

If someone gets access to my system via ssh or similar, what actually makes Puppy secure so that they can do no harm?

cheers!

Burn_IT · #11 Post by **Burn_IT** » Sat 29 Oct 2016, 12:32

No OS is secure if you have access to it. Nor can they EVER be. All you can do is delay control.
The whole thing is about making the attempt at unauthorised access less attractive than someone else's.

I think the whole subject is blown out of all proportion for home users and anyone who does need to worry about it at home has bigger problems than Puppy access to their bank.

musher0 · #12 Post by **musher0** » Mon 31 Oct 2016, 04:53

greengeek wrote:
musher0 wrote:Why? Puppy is already very secure as it is. We've
had probably 100 threads on this forum discussing this. .
Hi musher - each time I review this question I ask myself - what is it specifically that makes puppy secure?

Can you offer some suggestions?

Let me ask a specific question:

If someone gets access to my system via ssh or similar, what actually makes Puppy secure so that they can do no harm?

cheers!

Hello greengeek.

I'm basing that statement on an experiment Barry Kauler did with a
famous security specialist a few years ago. Long story short, the
specialist could not gain control of Puppy because Puppy was invisible on
the Internet or something like that (IIRC).

Certainly the main Puppy sfs is watertight. If you run your Puppy entirely
from DVD, I tend to think that everything in the Puppy would be out of
reach for an outsider: the sound of a DVD drive whirring without the
user's consent would be pretty obvious.

To my knowledge, in all the years Puppy has been in existence, there has
been no security incident with savefiles. Maybe the devs who came up with
the new save-on-demand feature for pupsave files can chime in with their
experience.

Finally, if you do proper back-ups of everything, even if your files were
somehow corrupted, you'd be back on line in no time.

BFN.

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How to change the root user?

How to change the root user?