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Linux Fedora Help!

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NutmegCT

NutmegCT

Great Pumpkin
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I decided to play with my old Fedora 20 laptop, before moving to the Elsie I downloaded a few days ago. I installed Fedora 20 back around 2014.

For the life of me, I can't figure out how to get to root. I want to update the system using yum.

Logged in as user, entered user password, and see the GUI. All the apps work. But I've followed various online instructions, and even tho' I have the root password, any attempt at su or sudo results in "user not sudoer", or something like that.

How the heck can I log in as root?
Thanks.
Tom M.
 
If you really have the root password, you should be able to use the "su" command to switch user - defaults to root. Enter root's password when prompted.
If you don't have root's password, you might have to boot the system into single user mode (by editing the boot command). That will give you access to set/change root's password and many other dangerous things. :smile:
 
Bob - thanks for the help.

After logging in a "user1", I enter user1 password. Takes me to the GUI.
Open terminal, enter "sudo -"
Sudo prompts me to enter user1 password.
I enter user1 password, and get "user1 not entered in sudoer file".
 
OK - this time I entered "su -" then password.
Worked!
entered yum update, and it's working.
Thanks.
(the online refs I checked implied that su - and sudo - were coequal. Guess not!)
 
They are equal if you're in the wheel group - add your id to the wheel group in the /etc/group file, as root. When you run the sudo command, you'll be prompted for your password, not root's. When you use the su command, you use root's password. One can modify the /etc/sudoers file so you're not prompted for a password with the sudo command, but ...
 
Thanks Bob. "wheel group", another term I don't remember from the Linux days.
(patience ... I must have patience)
 
Tom, just use the su prefix and root password when requested. You likely won't need to do too much with terminal commands..
 
BobHaskell said:
But I like vi :^)
and ASCII emojis.
Click to expand...
Vi Editor Commands.jpg
 
Thank you!
Interesting how the "commands" for up, down, left, right, etc. remind me of the old WordStar pre-mouse "ctrl+" keyboard commands.

wordstar-diamond.jpg


Note the ESDX "cursor" movement.
 
WS was actually my first "real" writing tool. Ran it on my Osborne 1 computer; still have the Osborne, and the WS. When 'puters started implementing WYSIWYG, it was like manna from heaven.
 
NutmegCT said:
WS was actually my first "real" writing tool. Ran it on my Osborne 1 computer; still have the Osborne, and the WS. When 'puters started implementing WYSIWYG, it was like manna from heaven.
Click to expand...
It was the Air Force standard back in the day.
 
Up until about 2001 my writing tool was a Remington. Then I switched over to MS Word.
 
Mrs JP brought an IBM selectric into the marriage (her father the mover got it from an office move) we were livin' large!
 
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