sysadmin and root/superuser

summary

This subchapter looks at system administration and the root or superuser account.

As we look at more advanced features and commands, we need to become aware of the root or superuser account and capabilities and how to safely access that power.

sysadmin and root/superuser

This subchapter looks at system administration and the root or superuser account.

sysadmin

In the UNIX world, the system administrator is often called the sysadmin.

root/superuser

The root or superuser account has total authority to do anything on the system. This power is great for fixing problems, but bad because one accidenttally mistyped character could be very destructive. Some systems also have admin accounts of similar power.

Because of the potential for destructiveness, system administrators typically login with either a normal user account or a limited admin account for every day work and then switch to superuser or root only when absolutely necessary (and then immediately switch back).

The UNIX command for temporarily switching to root or superuser power is the sudo command, discussed in the next subchapter.

special powers

The root or superuser account has powers that “mere mortal” accounts don’t have.

The root account has access to commands that effect the entire computer or system, such as the ability to halt or shutdown the system.

The root account is not affected by read and write file access permissions. The root or superuser account can create, remove, read, or write any file anywhere on the system.

Some commands have built-in restrictions that the root or superuser can ignore. For example, the system administrator can change any user’s password without knowing the old password.