Tell me more ×
Unix & Linux Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for users of Linux, FreeBSD and other Un*x-like operating systems.. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 3 down vote favorite

Is there a way to disable the root account completely on openSUSE so you can administer your system like the way you would do in Ubuntu?

share|improve this question
FYI. If is for a new installation, I think opensuse installer has this option. – Juan Francisco Cantero Hurtado Sep 28 '11 at 23:47

1 Answer

up vote 3 down vote

http://sathyasays.com/2008/05/27/enabling-and-disabling-root-account-in-debianubuntu/

Basically, you just make sure the 'sudoers' file allows anybody in the 'admin' group (or whatever group you want) to execute files using 'sudo':

%admin ALL=(ALL)

Then you disable the 'root' account password with:

passwd -d root

This should work with openSUSE too.

share|improve this answer
Does it also fix Policykit? – Jonathan Frank Sep 28 '11 at 15:47
1  
you might want to use passwd -d root, rather than passwd -l root. the -d option disables the password for root, but leaves the account in an active state that will still run cron jobs, etc. – Tim Kennedy Sep 28 '11 at 16:42
Oh, sorry; I've never used PolicyKit. I've always just used sudo. With PolicyKit, don't you just tell it what commands a regular user can run? Would disabling 'root' affect that at all? If 'root' still needs to be enabled for PolicyKit to work, you could always just set root's shell to '/bin/false'. EDIT: Good call, Tim Kennedy! I'll edit that in. – Kasius Sep 28 '11 at 16:49

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.