0

I recently posted here regarding a problem I was having with installing VLC media player on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. I just read a reply to that message which said if I did not have the root password, I cannot install anything on Ubuntu. I understand that, but I am wondering if it is possible to recover or reset the root password and, if so, how do I do it?

Thank you.

Jeff (jeff5613)

Jeff5613
  • 37
  • 4
    You don't need a root password in Ubuntu; as everything that can be done by the root user, can be done by a normal user who has sudo rights; which is setup at install time. The root user has an invalid password at install time, thus disabling the account (intentionally as it's safer; and not needed). – guiverc Oct 28 '21 at 00:05
  • 2
    you can change it with a simple sudo passwd (ie. sudo to elevate your privileges, so the password you're changing is the 'root' account), but you open up your box for more potential hacks by doing so; and gain in effect nothing. Just as a learning example... enter whoami at terminal when you're you; then try sudo whoami.... that's how Ubuntu by default intends users to access root... with the sudo (there is a lot more detail about environments involved... so this is an oversimplification, but it'll show I hope that a root password isn't required) – guiverc Oct 28 '21 at 00:07
  • 2
    Does this answer your question? How to change root password in ubuntu? – cocomac Oct 28 '21 at 00:46

0 Answers0