We will show you how to enable and disable root login in Ubuntu. Root access it required when you need to perform administrative operations which are not permitted for the regular system users, but in the same time the root access may be a huge security risk if it is enabled or if it is not used properly. In this tutorial we will show you how to enable and disable root login on a Linux VPS running Ubuntu as an operating system.
What is root?
In Ubuntu, and Linux in general there is a super user named root which can perform any administrative tasks on the system. In case you type some command incorrectly it can be really dangerous so the root login in Ubuntu is disabled by default. You can still perform super user operations on the system by using the sudo command with your system user if sudo privileges are granted for that user.
If root login is disabled on your Ubuntu VPS and you want to enable it, we will show you how to do that. Please follow the steps below.
Enable Root Login on Ubuntu
To enable root login on your Ubuntu server, first you need to set up password for your root user as it is not set during the OS installation. You can set up the password for your root user by using the following command:
sudo passwd root
You will be prompted to enter a new password. Enter the same password twice to confirm it and it will be updated successfully. Our recommendation is to use a very strong password for your root user so you can avoid it to be compromised via brute-force. Generally, a password utilizing at least 12 characters including alphanumeric and grammatical symbols is sufficient. Never use passwords based upon dictionary words or significant dates.
#sudo passwd root Enter new UNIX password: Retype new UNIX password: passwd: password updated successfully
Now that your have your root user enabled, you can check the OpenSSH settings and make sure your root user can use the service to access the server from remote locations. Open the OpenSSH server configuration file using a text editor of your choice. In our example, we are using nano:
sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
Find the line that starts with PermitRootLogin and make sure that line is not commented:
PermitRootLogin yes
If the line starts with # it means it is commented out, remove the # sign and save the file. Next, you need to restart the OpenSSH service for the changes to take effect. You can do that by using the following command:
sudo systemctl restart ssh.service
You can now connect to your server via SSH using your root user. Be careful though, with root login comes great responsibility.
You can also consider using SSH keys (private and public key) to login to your server. This method provides a more secure way of connecting to your server, instead of just using a password.
Disable Root Login on Ubuntu
If you have root login enabled on your Ubuntu VPS and you want it to be disabled you can follow the steps below.
First, delete the password of your root user and lock the root user using the following command:
sudo passwd -dl root
Then, open and edit the OpenSSH server configuration file using a text editor of your choice. We are using nano in our example:
sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
Find the line that starts with PermitRootLogin and make sure the value is set to no.
PermitRootLogin no
Once you make the appropriate changes in the OpenSSH configuration file, you need to restart the OpenSSH service for the changes to take effect. You can do that by using the following command:
sudo systemctl restart ssh.service
Of course, you don’t have to enable or disable root login on Ubuntu, if you use one of our Linux VPS Hosting services, in which case you can simply ask our expert Linux admins to enable or disable the root login on Ubuntu for you. They are available 24×7 and will take care of your request immediately.
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