How do I recover my root password?

Question

I'm trying to install the NetBeans IDE in my Ubuntu and in the process it's asking for my root password which I don't remember. I know my sudo user password. How can I recover my root password?

Answer 1

As default Ubuntu has no password set for the root user, i.e., the account named root. To gain root privileges as another user you have to type in your own password. This is the password you set for the first user account while installing Ubuntu.

To set a password for the root, run the following command in a Terminal shell:

sudo passwd root

After this you are asked to type in the new password twice. After this the root account has its own password, so you can actually log in with the user name root.

Answer 2

The root password on Ubuntu systems is left unset and unusable on purpose. Ubuntu uses sudo (switch user do) to elevate the privileges of an administrative user. (The user created on installation is, by default, an administrative user.). Sudo logs everything passed to it, which is useful, as you can check later what commands have been run with it.

If you're being prompted for any password, it's most likely your own (user) password that's needed.

• Why is it bad to run as root?
• Why is there no option to login as root?

Answer 3

Root account is by default disabled -- that means root has no password. Ubuntu is using sudo -- sudo allows "normal users" to run commands with superuser privilegies and and to "run" sudo they are using their own password.

More information here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo

Answer 4

Use your password. If you are an administrator user, you can use your password in these password prompts. If not, you will need to log on as an administrator user to do system wide things like installing software.

Answer 5

Try installing Netbeans from the package repositories. It's packaged in such a way as to avoid the need for a root password.

Answer 6

Please see the link below:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo#Re-disabling%20your%20root%20account

Answer 7

By default the root account is disabled, and you won't have the password for your root account. If you need the password for your root account, then you have to create one for root:

sudo passwd root

Note:

• Enabling the Root account is rarely necessary.
• Almost everything you need to do as an administrator of a Ubuntu system can be done via sudo or gksudo.

You can find information for enabling the root account in RootSudo. Use it at your own risk.

Answer 8

Encryption for passwords was invented to protect them from viewing. You cannot just view it, but you can change it without viewing old one. The only way to view an encrypted password is to decode it. You can try, encrypted passwords are in file /etc/shadow, but you'll just waste your time.

So just change the root password like this:

sudo passwd