Enabling Root User On A Mac 6
Tip
Hey
If you have been reading the posts on this blog a while you may notice me mention methods in which you have to use Terminal or a long method to enable you to edit restrictive files. This is done by your operating system to stop you changing something important. But you may want to enable root so you can quickly change an array of files, for instance if you have a web server installed. Enabling root on your Mac is very simple.
To enable root open Directory Utility under Utilities. I am not actually sure what this program does but it enables you to manage accounts in some way. The first step is to click the lock in the bottom left, and enter your account credentials.
Then go to Edit > Enable Root User, if this is your first time enabling root user you will have to enter a password. This is your root password so you will have to remember it. Once as you click ok you are done.
To actually use the root account you will have to switch to the login screen. Here you will be able to login in to extra accounts. When you click on the login option, enter “root” as the username and your password. You will then have root access. Here you can change any file without any worries. So be careful.
When you are done, its probably a good idea to disable the root account. Go to the edit menu of Directory Utility and select Disable Root User. This is so you don’t accidentally do something stupid.
Tomorrow I will be showing a cool trick you can use with a host file, to save you sometime its a good idea to be able to use root.
Where To Next?
6 Responses to “Enabling Root User On A Mac”
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It’s important to note that enabling the root user is not recommended. Admin users can accomplish most tasks requiring root privileges by using the ‘sudo’ command. If you must enable the root user, be sure you have a very secure password, which means a combination of numbers and letters and no pseudo-words (such as p3ncil).
Comment By Gary Hoover on February 4th, at 4:34 am
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A even better way is to use sudo in interactive mode
Try it:
$ sudo -i# whoami
root
#Comment By Züri on February 4th, at 7:40 pm
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What if I enabled the root user because the Mac website said I could change my short name there… and I accidently changed the name of the folder. and now I logged back into my admin account and it deleted all my personal settings. All my history, book marks, background, etc. Any way I can get this back to normal? Thanks soooo much!
Comment By Ashley on December 22nd, at 12:31 pm
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“This is your root password so you will have to remember it. Once as you click ok you are done.”
You can read more about it?Comment By knifigal on December 14th, at 11:07 pm
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5
You lot at the login part. Can you elaborate?
Thanks,
DaveComment By David on December 18th, at 10:02 pm
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You actually make it appear really easy along with your presentation however I find this matter to be really one thing which I think I’d never understand. It seems too complicated and extremely huge for me. I’m taking a look ahead to your next publish, I’ll try to get the cling of it!
Comment By business directory on November 30th, at 7:57 pm