how to find out root password

Question

I just installed ubuntu desktop 13.04

I need the root access and need to know the root password During installation, I left it blank.

How can find out my root password ?

Thanks. somner

Solution 1

Simple answer : You can't find the root password, If you could it would break the security model.

Also, by default root does not have a password which prevents you from logging in as root.

If you want to enable root login see this post. How to enable root login? However its not recommended see here

If you have lost the password of all Administrative users see this post on how to fix: How do I reset a lost administrative password?

Another option is sudo -i with your password which runs a session as root

Also take a look here RootSudo

Solution 2

While the answer given by A J is technically correct, you should use sudo su to switch to the root user. If for some reason you must use his answer, please do sudo bash --login

Solution 3

Root login is disabled by default in ubuntu. You can switch to root with

sudo bash

and then give it your personal password.

Comments

[StackExchange User]

@Radu Nope, not a duplicate. While the title might be misleading, the OP never actually set one.

[Radu Rădeanu]

@IanCarroll I said possible, I didn't decided that is it :)

[Thomas Ward]

@IanCarroll the answer on the duplicate is still 100% accurate, because that answer will answer here. If they need root, they can use sudo to run commands as superuser, when using the user that was configured at installation time. The duplicate status is accurate and correct as a result.

[StackExchange User]

Ok, fair enough.

[Radu Rădeanu]

Why? I need some arguments.

[StackExchange User]

--login will present you with a login-type shell instead of something simulated.

[Bobbbay]

-1, this is a bad practice. What if the user uses a different shell? Or, what if root uses a different shell than the user? It's neither uncommon nor a bad idea. sudo su, as mentioned by @StackExchange User, or sudo -s are much better alternatives. (thank you for coming to my ted talk).

[A J Rossington]

sudo bash gives you a new shell and therefore a new command history - keeping my normal work separate from those run as "root". If the user had enabled the root account AND changed the shell being used by root then it's unlikely they would be asking this question. As is often the case, mileage may vary but sudo bash would provide root access as well as allowing the user to enable and set a password for the real root user.

[Bobbbay]

Fair enough. You provide some good points, so to each their own!