(We??™re using
a shadow password file to store encrypted password data, so the password field here contains an x.)
You can change the home directory or the shell used by editing the values in this file. A better way
to change these values, however, is to use the usermod command (see the section ???Modifying
Users with usermod??? later in this chapter).
By default, the root account is disabled in Ubuntu. This means that even though the
account exists, you cannot log in using it or use su to become the root user. This adds
an additional level of security to Ubuntu, and requires you to use sudo before each command you
want to execute at root level.
Becoming Root from the Shell (su Command)
Although you can become the superuser by logging in as root, sometimes that is not convenient. For
example, you may be logged in to a regular user account and just want to make a quick administrative
change to your system without having to log out and log back in. Or, you may need to log
in over the network to make a change to a Linux system but find that the system doesn??™t allow root
users in from over the network (a common practice in the days before secure shells were available).
The solution is to use the su command. From any Terminal window or shell, you can simply type
the following:
$ su
Password: ******
#
NOTE
NOTE
138
Running the Show Part II
When you are prompted, type in the root user??™s password.
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