Geek Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 <div class="KonaBody"><p><img src="http://osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/enable-root-user-account-lion.jpg" alt="Enable the Root User Account in OS X Lion" title="enable-root-user-account-lion" width="620" height="171" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-25794" /></p> <p>The root user is a special user account with high level system-wide access privileges intended for system administration, monitoring, and in depth troubleshooting purposes. By default, root user is disabled in Mac OS X for security purposes, but if you need to enable superuser, this guide will show you how to do so in <a href="http://osxdaily.com/tag/mac-os-x-10-7/">OS X 10.7 Lion</a>.</p> <p>If you do not have a specific need to enable root, you should leave it disabled. </p> <h2 style="font-size:1.2em;">Enable Root User in OS X Lion</h2> <p>This process also sets a password for the root account.</p> <ul> <li>From the Mac OS X Desktop, hit Command+Shift+G to bring up Go To Folder and enter the following path:</li> <p><code>/System/Library/CoreServices/</code> <img src="http://osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/directory-utility-lion.jpg" alt="Directory Utility located within CoreServices" title="directory-utility-lion" width="509" height="183" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-25793" /></p> <li>Inside CoreServices folder, locate and launch “Directory Utility”</li> <li>Unlock “Directory Utility” by clicking the padlock icon and entering the administrator password</li> <li>Pull down the “Edit” menu and select “Enable Root User”</li> <li>Enter and confirm a password to set the root users password and to enable the account</li> </ul> <p>Be sure to set a strong password for the root account. If you’re bad at picking passwords or you just want the security advantages of randomness, <a href="http://osxdaily.com/2011/05/10/generate-random-passwords-command-line/">generate one randomly</a> from the command line. </p> <p><img src="http://osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/enable-root-user-lion.jpg" alt="Enable Root User in Mac OS X Lion" title="enable-root-user-lion" width="620" height="484" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-25795" /></p> <p>With root now enabled, the account can be used freely. It will not appear in the Users & Groups preference pane.</p> <p>The root account can access, read, and write to all files on a system, even if they belong to someone else. Additionally, root can also remove or replace system files. This is why it’s a potential security risk to leave the account enabled aimlessly, or to use a weak password with the account. </p> <p>The Directory Utility control panel can also be used to change a set root password through the Edit menu, or that can be done through the command line using sudo passwd, similar to <a href="http://osxdaily.com/2010/02/06/change-the-iphones-root-password/">changing the root password in iOS</a> devices.</p> </div> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-ZF13aaHMUfDx3FSEavXBrdXV9c/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-ZF13aaHMUfDx3FSEavXBrdXV9c/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-ZF13aaHMUfDx3FSEavXBrdXV9c/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-ZF13aaHMUfDx3FSEavXBrdXV9c/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><div class="feedflare"> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=36ISH8gSZko:gPu3Rj_nVgc:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=36ISH8gSZko:gPu3Rj_nVgc:V_sGLiPBpWU"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?i=36ISH8gSZko:gPu3Rj_nVgc:V_sGLiPBpWU" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=36ISH8gSZko:gPu3Rj_nVgc:D7DqB2pKExk"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?i=36ISH8gSZko:gPu3Rj_nVgc:D7DqB2pKExk" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=36ISH8gSZko:gPu3Rj_nVgc:7Q72WNTAKBA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?d=7Q72WNTAKBA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?a=36ISH8gSZko:gPu3Rj_nVgc:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/osxdaily?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> </div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/osxdaily/~4/36ISH8gSZko" height="1" width="1"/> View the full article
Recommended Posts