I just recently installed Ubuntu 11.04 on my desktop, and I only entered in one password during the install process. This password works to log into the machine, run updates etc. When I open up the terminal, and try to use su and I enter in the same password… I get an Authentication failure.
I’ve booted my computer up in recovery mode, and reset the password from the command line, but I’m still getting the same authentication error.
If anyone could help me out, I would appreciate it.
Answer
In Ubuntu the root account is locked by default. To perform administrative tasks in Ubuntu you need to use sudo
instead. If you need a root shell, use sudo -i
.
Of course you can just unlock the root account with sudo passwd root
but after that you are not doing thing ‘in Ubuntu way’. Is that a good thing or not, you decide.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Troy Knapp , Answer Author : Janne Pikkarainen