When following the instructions above, when I get to item 9 "Choose Enable Root User from the Edit menu", the "Enable/Disable Root" button is not even displayed in my Directory Utility. Mac OS X 10.6.8 - Help pls!!
Unless you have a very specific need to do so, enabling root is a very bad idea. Why do you need to do this?
With the previous OS it was enabled and every now and then I used it. .... I feel more confortable knowing it's available.
By previous OS, do you mean OS 9? It's never been enabled by default in OS X.
With very few exceptions, there's nothing you need root access for that you can't do in Terminal using the sudo command.
I appreciate all the warnings and advice and will certainly bear them in mind.
However, I still need help figuring out
a.- why the "enable/disable root" is not visible in the directory utility where all the tutorials and how-to's say it should be
b.- how to make it appear
c.- how to enable root
btw the previous version of os x was 10.4.11 and would enable me to access root through terminal.
a.- why the "enable/disable root" is not visible in the directory utility where all the tutorials and how-to's say it should be
Were you following these instructions?
btw the previous version of os x was 10.4.11 and would enable me to access root through terminal.
In Terminal, you can do almost anything as root without actually enabling the root user account. All you need to do is use the sudo command. You are giving yourself temporary root powers with that command.
Thanks! I was able to find my way around after searching google and other help how-to´s, etc.
I started with the root enabling search after being unable to access root in Terminal. In the end, that one was easy to sort out once I found out that sudo in Mac OS X v10.6 or later requires a non-blank admin password (whereas previous versions accepted the commands just by pressing enter with no password).
As soon as my mac guy comes back from his vacation I expect he'll sort out the rest and find the way to enable root in the Directory Utility.
that one was easy to sort out once I found out that sudo in Mac OS X v10.6 or later requires a non-blank admin password (whereas previous versions accepted the commands just by pressing enter with no password).
D'oh!!! I had completely forgotten that. Yes, you cannot have a null admin password in Snow Leopard or later. Well, you can for logging in, but Terminal will not work, as you discovered. There are also a handful of third party apps which will not accept a null password. FileSalvage I know is one.
Enable Root User
