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Date:      Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:32:02 -0500
From:      Bob Johnson <fbsdlists@gmail.com>
To:        Jerry McAllister <jerrymc@msu.edu>
Cc:        Lin Taosheng <taosheng.lin@gmail.com>, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: HELP! Is that possible "creating a user named root but acturally not the administrator root"
Message-ID:  <54db43991002111132s11569d8aj9b390d72c1725240@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <20100211190840.GB73100@gizmo.acns.msu.edu>
References:  <5ffa459b1002102005i6b03c6fcqc1d4a11f590164d4@mail.gmail.com> <19315.37670.468383.119569@jerusalem.litteratus.org> <54db43991002111058r1d8d1244mff110ec0b6f69046@mail.gmail.com> <20100211190840.GB73100@gizmo.acns.msu.edu>

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On 2/11/10, Jerry McAllister <jerrymc@msu.edu> wrote:
> On Thu, Feb 11, 2010 at 01:58:07PM -0500, Bob Johnson wrote:
>
>> On 2/11/10, Robert Huff <roberthuff@rcn.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > Lin Taosheng writes:
>> >
>> >>      Is that possible to implementated?
>> >
>>
>> Yes, use vipw to edit the password file. Add another username that is
>> UID zero. The name "toor" is actually already there as an example of
>> how to do that, but it is disabled because it has a "*" in the
>> password field. After the new username is tested and you know it
>> works, use vipw to replace the password field for "root" to an "*".
>> Then root will still exist, but it will not be possible to log in to
>> it. You could also delete the entire line for "root", but that gets
>> farther into unusual territory and increases the chance that you will
>> break something else by doing so.
>
> If I take what the OP said literally, you are answering backwards.
> The OP asked if it is possible to name a different account root - eg
> one that is not UID 0.    You are answering that it is possible to
> give an account other than root a UID 0.
>
> Now, the OP may have meant to ask what you are answering and just
> got it mixed up.   But, that was not the way the question went.

Oops. Rats. When I started my reply I had it right, but by the time I
finished I had confused myself. Thanks.

Anyway, it's possible, but in practice it probably won't work right,
and doesn't do much for security anyway.

- Bob



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