Re: [newbie] OT: Root Password Failure
Michael Viron wrote: As far as security goes, yes absolutely, you should password protect Grub, as well as place put a bios password on your system and disable booting from floppy and cd-rom. Anthony Not to mention that if you're using the machine as a server, it would be a wise idea to get a case that you can lock the case and the front. This way, someone can't get into the case, pull out the bios battery (resetting the bios to the default settings.) or press the power button to shutdown the machine. It's amazing how few people are aware of this (especially in films). Just to get this as off-topic as possible, I read a hilariously inaccurate novelistic account of someone breaking into a top secret computer. He finds a user login/pasword, then says something like The next thing I needed to do was reboot the machine so I could log in as root. Like this is a top secret government computer, and ordinary users are allowed to reboot it? On the other other hand, they're obviously so hot on security that users can't use su (actually, that's pretty sensible). Jeez, with stuff like this and the ubiquitous Oh, the password's the name of the mad scientist's daughter! stuff around, it's not surprising security is a non-issue in most places. Of course, it isn't very likely that someone will go to all that trouble unless you've got some seriously confidential stuff on there. Of course, servers should also preferably be kept in a room that only required personnel have access to. Hey, I wonder if I could use this as a way to finally get my own office? Sir Robin -- Do unto others what you would like others to do unto you. And have fun doing it. - Linus Torvalds Robin Turner IDMYO, Bilkent University Ankara 06533 Turkey www.bilkent.edu.tr/~robin Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
[newbie] OT: Root Password Failure
I cannot log in as root on my new installation of RH 8.0! I am sure that it was caused by my fat fingered typing during installation. Is there a way to recover or change an erroneous password for root? Or am I going to have to reinstall again? From scratch, or will an update work? Sorry for the OT, but in a sense, knowing helps with MDK, too. TIA T Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] OT: Root Password Failure
On Sun, 2002-11-17 at 12:32, Technoslick wrote: I cannot log in as root on my new installation of RH 8.0! I am sure that it was caused by my fat fingered typing during installation. Is there a way to recover or change an erroneous password for root? Or am I going to have to reinstall again? From scratch, or will an update work? Sorry for the OT, but in a sense, knowing helps with MDK, too. No of course you don't. Just log in under 'linux single' in grub then change the root password. Anthony Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] OT: Root Password Failure
Thanks, Anthony! I couldn't remember what I needed to do. After spending three days trying to get some older video hardware to work with RH 8, I was getting so peeved! This was my first attempt at uisng Grub outside of a normal boot-up. Someone here once said that GRub was a nice boot manager, but not very intuitive. Yep. I will agree to that statement. I had to do a search on the Web to get the instructions. It really isn't that obvious to me. LILO is so much easier to use. Once I was able to boot into Level 1 mode, it was a an easy task to use 'passwd' to change my mistake. Now, here's one for you If booting into Level 1 is this 'easy', I would think that you would want to eliminate this possibility in a network environment (for Grub or LILO) to keep intruders from bypassing the need for a password and getting root access. Would you password Grub or LILO? Thanks again for the help. Saved me a few more hours of aggrevation. BTW, Red Hat 8.0 may be a big improvement over 7.x, but it sucks with older video cards! It comes with XFree86 4.2.0-17, and every Diamond and Tident card in my place won't work right with it. I even struggled to get my ATi 3D Rage Pro to work! Outside of that? Not bad...but, it ain't Mandrake! T From there, I was able to cha - Original Message - From: Anthony Abby [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Mandrake-Newbie [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2002 12:41 PM Subject: Re: [newbie] OT: Root Password Failure On Sun, 2002-11-17 at 12:32, Technoslick wrote: I cannot log in as root on my new installation of RH 8.0! I am sure that it was caused by my fat fingered typing during installation. Is there a way to recover or change an erroneous password for root? Or am I going to have to reinstall again? From scratch, or will an update work? Sorry for the OT, but in a sense, knowing helps with MDK, too. No of course you don't. Just log in under 'linux single' in grub then change the root password. Anthony Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] OT: Root Password Failure
[snip] Now, here's one for you If booting into Level 1 is this 'easy', I would think that you would want to eliminate this possibility in a network environment (for Grub or LILO) to keep intruders from bypassing the need for a password and getting root access. Would you password Grub or LILO? Thanks again for the help. Saved me a few more hours of aggrevation. BTW, Red Hat 8.0 may be a big improvement over 7.x, but it sucks with older video cards! It comes with XFree86 4.2.0-17, and every Diamond and Tident card in my place won't work right with it. I even struggled to get my ATi 3D Rage Pro to work! Outside of that? Not bad...but, it ain't Mandrake! Well first of all I absolutely loved Redhat... until 8.0. Hated what they did with KDE, since KDE is my preferred gui. It's what caused me to switch from Redhat to Mandrake. And I have to say I'm pretty happy that I did. (.0 is really nice! As far as security goes, yes absolutely, you should password protect Grub, as well as place put a bios password on your system and disable booting from floppy and cd-rom. Anthony Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] OT: Root Password Failure
On Mon, 2002-11-18 at 04:32, Technoslick wrote: I cannot log in as root on my new installation of RH 8.0! I am sure that it was caused by my fat fingered typing during installation. Is there a way to recover or change an erroneous password for root? Or am I going to have to reinstall again? From scratch, or will an update work? Sorry for the OT, but in a sense, knowing helps with MDK, too. TIA T You should be able to use the boot CD and get in via linux rescue - once you're in and you chroot /mnt/sysimage you can change the password for the root account...easy as pie! -- Mon Nov 18 06:50:01 EST 2002 |____ | | / \ /| |'-. | | .\__/ || | | | | _ / `._ \|_|_.-' | | | / \__.`=._) (_ |kuhn media australia | |/ ._/ || |http://kma.0catch.com | |'. `\ | | |stephen kuhn | ;/ / | | |email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] | smk ) /_/| |.---.| |mobile: 0410-728-389 | ' `-`' |linux user:267497 THE LESSER-KNOWN PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES #14 -- VALGOL VALGOL is enjoying a dramatic surge of popularity across the industry. VALGOL commands include REALLY, LIKE, WELL, and Y*KNOW. Variables are assigned with the =LIKE and =TOTALLY operators. Other operators include the California booleans, AX and NOWAY. Loops are accomplished with the FOR SURE construct. A simple example: LIKE, Y*KNOW(I MEAN)START IF PIZZA=LIKE BITCHEN AND GUY =LIKE TUBULAR AND VALLEY GIRL =LIKE GRODY**MAX(FERSURE)**2 THEN FOR I =LIKE 1 TO OH*MAYBE 100 DO*WAH - (DITTY**2); BARF(I)=TOTALLY GROSS(OUT) SURE LIKE, BAG THIS PROGRAM; REALLY; LIKE TOTALLY(Y*KNOW); IM*SURE GOTO THE MALL VALGOL is also characterized by its unfriendly error messages. For example, when the user makes a syntax error, the interpreter displays the message GAG ME WITH A SPOON! A successful compile may be termed MAXIMALLY AWESOME! Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] OT: Root Password Failure
Thanks, Stephen... I went in another way...using my boot floppy that I created during the install. As I mentioned in my reply to Anthony, my biggest hassle was passing linux single to Grub. It has been years since I used Grub, and then it was a text-based booter. Once I was able to boot to single user, I solved my problem. BTW, in researching how to get into Grub, I found the directions for using 'linux recovery, as well. I didn't have to mount /proc...just type 'passwd' at the command line by going this root. Really way too simple. That's what I asked Anthony about security around Grub and LILO. I don't need this kind of security within my own network (Heaven help us all, but I am the only 'expert' on Linux here!), but I would consider this later on in helping small businesses switch over to Linux. :-) T - Original Message - From: Stephen Kuhn [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2002 2:53 PM Subject: Re: [newbie] OT: Root Password Failure On Mon, 2002-11-18 at 04:32, Technoslick wrote: I cannot log in as root on my new installation of RH 8.0! I am sure that it was caused by my fat fingered typing during installation. Is there a way to recover or change an erroneous password for root? Or am I going to have to reinstall again? From scratch, or will an update work? Sorry for the OT, but in a sense, knowing helps with MDK, too. TIA T You should be able to use the boot CD and get in via linux rescue - once you're in and you chroot /mnt/sysimage you can change the password for the root account...easy as pie! -- Mon Nov 18 06:50:01 EST 2002 |____ | | / \ /| |'-. | | .\__/ || | | | | _ / `._ \|_|_.-' | | | / \__.`=._) (_ |kuhn media australia | |/ ._/ || |http://kma.0catch.com | |'. `\ | | |stephen kuhn | ;/ / | | |email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] | smk ) /_/| |.---.| |mobile: 0410-728-389 | ' `-`' |linux user:267497 THE LESSER-KNOWN PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES #14 -- VALGOL VALGOL is enjoying a dramatic surge of popularity across the industry. VALGOL commands include REALLY, LIKE, WELL, and Y*KNOW. Variables are assigned with the =LIKE and =TOTALLY operators. Other operators include the California booleans, AX and NOWAY. Loops are accomplished with the FOR SURE construct. A simple example: LIKE, Y*KNOW(I MEAN)START IF PIZZA =LIKE BITCHEN AND GUY =LIKE TUBULAR AND VALLEY GIRL =LIKE GRODY**MAX(FERSURE)**2 THEN FOR I =LIKE 1 TO OH*MAYBE 100 DO*WAH - (DITTY**2); BARF(I)=TOTALLY GROSS(OUT) SURE LIKE, BAG THIS PROGRAM; REALLY; LIKE TOTALLY(Y*KNOW); IM*SURE GOTO THE MALL VALGOL is also characterized by its unfriendly error messages. For example, when the user makes a syntax error, the interpreter displays the message GAG ME WITH A SPOON! A successful compile may be termed MAXIMALLY AWESOME! Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] OT: Root Password Failure
On Mon, 2002-11-18 at 07:10, Technoslick wrote: Thanks, Stephen... I went in another way...using my boot floppy that I created during the install. As I mentioned in my reply to Anthony, my biggest hassle was passing linux single to Grub. It has been years since I used Grub, and then it was a text-based booter. Once I was able to boot to single user, I solved my problem. BTW, in researching how to get into Grub, I found the directions for using 'linux recovery, as well. I didn't have to mount /proc...just type 'passwd' at the command line by going this root. Really way too simple. That's what I asked Anthony about security around Grub and LILO. I don't need this kind of security within my own network (Heaven help us all, but I am the only 'expert' on Linux here!), but I would consider this later on in helping small businesses switch over to Linux. :-) T Generally, in situations where security is a concern, I like to disable the single logon...and keep any boot disks in a safe. -- Mon Nov 18 08:00:01 EST 2002 |____ | | / \ /| |'-. | | .\__/ || | | | | _ / `._ \|_|_.-' | | | / \__.`=._) (_ |kuhn media australia | |/ ._/ || |http://kma.0catch.com | |'. `\ | | |stephen kuhn | ;/ / | | |email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] | smk ) /_/| |.---.| |mobile: 0410-728-389 | ' `-`' |linux user:267497 I want another RE-WRITE on my CEASAR SALAD!! Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] OT: Root Password Failure
Best. Sig. Ever. Stephen Kuhn, Sunday 17 November 2002 19:53: THE LESSER-KNOWN PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES #14 -- VALGOL VALGOL is enjoying a dramatic surge of popularity across the industry. VALGOL commands include REALLY, LIKE, WELL, and Y*KNOW. Variables are assigned with the =LIKE and =TOTALLY operators. Other operators include the California booleans, AX and NOWAY. Loops are accomplished with the FOR SURE construct. A simple example: LIKE, Y*KNOW(I MEAN)START IF PIZZA=LIKE BITCHEN AND GUY =LIKE TUBULAR AND VALLEY GIRL =LIKE GRODY**MAX(FERSURE)**2 THEN FOR I =LIKE 1 TO OH*MAYBE 100 DO*WAH - (DITTY**2); BARF(I)=TOTALLY GROSS(OUT) SURE LIKE, BAG THIS PROGRAM; REALLY; LIKE TOTALLY(Y*KNOW); IM*SURE GOTO THE MALL VALGOL is also characterized by its unfriendly error messages. For example, when the user makes a syntax error, the interpreter displays the message GAG ME WITH A SPOON! A successful compile may be termed MAXIMALLY AWESOME! Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] OT: Root Password Failure
On Mon, 2002-11-18 at 09:15, RichardA wrote: Best. Sig. Ever. Stephen Kuhn, Sunday 17 November 2002 19:53: THE LESSER-KNOWN PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES #14 -- VALGOL VALGOL is enjoying a dramatic surge of popularity across the industry. VALGOL commands include REALLY, LIKE, WELL, and Y*KNOW. Variables are assigned with the =LIKE and =TOTALLY operators. Other operators include the California booleans, AX and NOWAY. Loops are accomplished with the FOR SURE construct. A simple example: LIKE, Y*KNOW(I MEAN)START IF PIZZA=LIKE BITCHEN AND GUY =LIKE TUBULAR AND VALLEY GIRL =LIKE GRODY**MAX(FERSURE)**2 THEN FOR I =LIKE 1 TO OH*MAYBE 100 DO*WAH - (DITTY**2); BARF(I)=TOTALLY GROSS(OUT) SURE LIKE, BAG THIS PROGRAM; REALLY; LIKE TOTALLY(Y*KNOW); IM*SURE GOTO THE MALL VALGOL is also characterized by its unfriendly error messages. For example, when the user makes a syntax error, the interpreter displays the message GAG ME WITH A SPOON! A successful compile may be termed MAXIMALLY AWESOME! __ Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com Hehehhehee...yeah - I like using the fortune database to generate the quips at the end of the sig...real simple script that runs every minute via cron job. Anytime I get a chance to update the fortune's database, I do... -- Mon Nov 18 08:10:00 EST 2002 |____ | | / \ /| |'-. | | .\__/ || | | | | _ / `._ \|_|_.-' | | | / \__.`=._) (_ |kuhn media australia | |/ ._/ || |http://kma.0catch.com | |'. `\ | | |stephen kuhn | ;/ / | | |email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] | smk ) /_/| |.---.| |mobile: 0410-728-389 | ' `-`' |linux user:267497 I am NOMAD! Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] OT: Root Password Failure
As far as security goes, yes absolutely, you should password protect Grub, as well as place put a bios password on your system and disable booting from floppy and cd-rom. Anthony Not to mention that if you're using the machine as a server, it would be a wise idea to get a case that you can lock the case and the front. This way, someone can't get into the case, pull out the bios battery (resetting the bios to the default settings.) or press the power button to shutdown the machine. Of course, it isn't very likely that someone will go to all that trouble unless you've got some seriously confidential stuff on there. Of course, servers should also preferably be kept in a room that only required personnel have access to. Michael Viron Project Manager / Primary Developer / Manager of Online Operations General Education Online Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
