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This is an issue I keep having and it doesn't make sense. It seems like all the substantial configuration files require some "other" form of access. I'm using the administrator account I created in setup, so I wasn't aware that another level of power users existed.
Thanks,
Kurt
Mac OS X (10.7)
There is another level called root but that account is normally not active on Mac OS X as shipped. You have to take action to activate the account. That is for the safety of the operating system. Root has ownership of every file on the computer and can do significant damage. You can find out how to activate root from a Lion manual such as the Missing Manual, but if you feel you must function as root be very careful, you will not be asked if you really want to do something such as delete...the system assumes you know what you are doing as root.
There is another level called root but that account is normally not active on Mac OS X as shipped. You have to take action to activate the account. That is for the safety of the operating system. Root has ownership of every file on the computer and can do significant damage. You can find out how to activate root from a Lion manual such as the Missing Manual, but if you feel you must function as root be very careful, you will not be asked if you really want to do something such as delete...the system assumes you know what you are doing as root.
Thanks Ralph! I had a feeling this was going to be the case. I'll start searching for a way to enable root. FYI, I'm running 10.7.3.
Ok, since you will find this anyway 🙂 go to this knowledge base article And do further searches using the search window in the upper right corner next to Support, on enable root.
Read the material carefully, I am not trying to be obstructionist, just very sensitive about people using root because it is so powerful. I have been using Unix since the late 80s and learned the hard way how much damage root can do if you are not extremely careful. So please use caution and look at the commands you give twice before clicking return.
You might also open and keep on the dock the Terminal...from applications, or it may be in utilities now...that will let you work at command level with the system..
I can respect that. I come from a background of Windows Server administration and hence have some sort of point of reference in regards to what damage root access can lead too. I wouldn't go this direction unless I felt like I had too, but I'm having a ton of issues getting this VPN service to work and I found a configuration file that appears to have the incorrect information in it, so I was going to attempt to edit it manually.
The file I'm referring to is "com.apple.RemoteAccessServers.plist" located in "/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration".
Also, most of these guides are alluding to an "edit" button that I don't see. I'm not sure if it's a version difference or what, but I can't find what they're referring to. Are you familiar with this? It might just be an obvious thing that I'm overlooking.
Wait wait... I got it.
KNicklow wrote:
Wait wait... I got it.
So glad to have been able to help 😁
Since you are an experienced admin, you should do well working as root...and Terminal is a great tool.
Might also want to keep a Console window open for debugging to see the system level processes that start and stop, you can see where things hang.
For what it is worth, I've never enabled root in the GUI on any OS X machine I've administrated. Anytime I need root, I just use terminal - "sudo su-", enter your admin password when prompted and you will start a terminal login session as root. Then just work as root in terminal, exit when done, and you never need enable a root GUI login.
plist files are easily edited in a command line editor, or use Xwindows and a X-graphical editor like Nedit.
I'll look into Nedit, thanks Michael!
I've been using the sudo command as a crutch (I have limited terminal experience), but I'm slowly warming up to terminal. Now that I have all the access I need I just have to try and figure out what the problem is with this VPN. It was working fine for a week and a half and then all the sudden it just broke out of nowhere.
Thanks for all the help!
Why don't I have permissions to change core system files
