How do you make a superuser?

I have just installed Solaris 11. When I turn the computer on I don't want to see a login in screen. I want to automatically be logged in as "SUPERUSER".

My research tells me someone is going to tell me that's not wise or safe. I'm not interested in security advice. If someone I know is smart enough to defeat my bios password they are more than welcome to do whatever they want to the system. And If I or someone else screw the system up, how bad could it be? Worse case, I wipe the HDD and re-install.

I want "SU" in the GUI so I can copy/past files to any director I choose. I am new to Linux and don't have a good understanding of all the terminal commands. I'm having to research the the simplest tasks, ie "mv", "ls"... At this point I don't even know if I can use wild cards with Linux commands. I need a white board on the wall so I have all the commands in front of me.

My issue is the same as one I posted in the Ubuntu thread. I want to get wifi configured on a PC that has no connection to the Internet. All my searches lead to the same answer. They all give commands to type in the terminal that require internet access. ie "user$ git http//.something..."

I have manually downloaded the driver for my wifi device to a USB drive and migrated it to the desktop of the target PC. I followed instruction to "make all" "install all" and failed. The readme file said something about "DKMS", so I downloaded that and unpacked on the desk top. Looking the files over I determined what directories these files go in. A few belong in /etc. The file manager won't let me past to this directory.

Using the terminal in the dir where these files are located I tried ~$ "sudo mv filename /etc/filename". After putting in PW it said directory not found. Then, after typing enough keystrokes to write a short story, and using 'sudo' I managed to move one file into the /etc directory. And now I have forgotten how I did it. It's like re-inventing the wheel again and again. It would be much easier if I could cut and paste.

I have no choice but to learn Linux. I salvaged these PC's from the waste collection center and can't afford to put Win OS's on them. I plan on becoming a Linux expert in time. I taught and consider myself a expert dos user. But it didn't happen over night. So if you can help me with this you 'll be my best friend :slight_smile:

There are several unrelated questions here.

You might want to ask them one by one, and better start with the technical ones like wifi support.

Also, your post mention Linux four times while this looks to be about Solaris.

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For the system login I agree that the desktop does a good effort to enforce an authorization (password, token, fingerprint, ...).
You can do

sudo bash

to get a root shell. The # in the prompt tells you are root.
The root privilege is limited to this shell, and propagates to everything you start from it. It does not propagate back to you entire desktop.
--
Solaris is not Linux.
Solaris is a flavor of Unix, and Linux is somewhat compatible with Unix.

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Please pardon my lack of Linux/Unix history. Something I read years back has put the idea that Linux was created on the back of Unix. It's been so long I can't explain what I read that put that idea in my head. One fact I know for sure is, I'm not educated enough to tell the difference between the two.

My issues are correlated. The primary goal is to get WIFI working on the Solaris box, which doesn't have Internet access. The only workable option I see is to download TPLINK files I need using My Ubuntu PC which connects to my neighbors UVerse via Wifi. Then migrate the files to the Solaris PC via USB drive or LINKSYS Ethernet router. Or, I have read that I can configure Ubuntu to share it's Internet access via Ethernet. I think Sharing Internet through a Ethernet router is putting the bar well above my head at this point.

Once I have files on Solaris PC I still have to put the files in the proper directory. Using cut/copy and past in the GUI would make this very easy. I need to become proficient with Linux/Unix? commands. Hopefully I still have 20 years to do so. The priority right now though, Is getting WIFI on Solaris so I can remove Ubuntu from this PC so I can start test driving another Linux/Unix distro.

Thank you for your reply.

What precise model, chipset is your wifi adapter ?

What driver do you plan to install and where did you get it ?

PS: Linux might have been created on the back of Unix, whatever that means, but they are different beasts. You might name a Linux distribution a Unix, as it is Unix like, but you cannot name a (real) Unix distribution a Linux. Linux is a specific kernel not used by other Unix and Unix like OSes (and used by non Unix like OSes like Android).

Re your post#1, in Solaris 11 the root user (superuser) is a 'role' by default and cannot be logged into directly, only su'd to.

This is, of course, for security reasons. However, if you so choose, you can revert user 'root' to a standard user account by issuing:#

# rolemod -K type=normal root

having previously su'd to gain superuser rights. After that, subject to setting/knowing the root user password you can log directly in as root giving you immediate superuser rights without the need to su.

Another option would be to start your system in single user which brings it up in superuser but without multiuser services such as networking. However, you could soon script yourself something to start the services you require, mount filesystems, and other things whilst you are still in single user. It just depends on whether one single user (from the console) will serve your purpose. Perhaps provide us all with more information so that we can be more specific.

kevin@OptiPlex-2:~$ rolemod -K type=normal root
rolemod: command not found
kevin@OptiPlex-2:~$

"start your system in single user" This sounds great, how do you do that? Are you using Solaris?

The urtwn driver (port from BSD) might support the TPLINK device but it looks like it is difficult to find its source code or binaries on the Internet.

You can boot your system into single-user mode by adding '-S' to your GRUB boot command (either on a temporary basis or on a permanent basis).

Solaris 10 (x86/x64) : How to boot into single user mode from the Grub boot loader

Search this forum or Google for:

'Solaris x86 boot single user' for more information.

I don't know why the 'rolemod' command was not found when you tried it. However, try again when in superuser (su) mode with a # prompt.
It should definitely (using Solaris 11) allow you to revert 'root' to a standard account so you can login to it directly. You might need to run

# passwd root

command to set/change the root password (again whilst superuser).

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Beware that with the current Solaris 11 release, GRUB2 is used instead of GRUB 0.97 (a.k.a. Legacy GRUB) so some of the information provided in the Solaris 10 link is obsolete and wouldn't apply.

See:

x86: Introducing GRUB 2 - Booting and Shutting Down Oracle Solaris 11.1 Systems and

How to Upgrade Your GRUB Legacy System to a Release That Supports GRUB 2 - Booting and Shutting Down Oracle(R) Solaris 11.3 Systems

The rolemod command was not found because it is located in /usr/sbin, so not in the path of a regular, not root user.

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Well i have only run a few commands, but apparently enough to screw something up. Solaris won't let me in to NETWORK settings now. When I try a lil window pops up asking for a 'user' or 'role'. If I put my username in it disappears but the settings don't come up. If I enter root it ask for a password.

I was looking at 'USER MANAGER' and it has my user listed as 'STAFF'. Not only can I not change the group or permissions for 'STAFF', I can't add a new user. It says I'm not authorized.

I think I'll delete the partition and re-install. Then I take a closer look at "rolemod" and single user boot.

Did re-install but it didn't improve much. I still can't change my user or create new user. I can get to network settings now but it won't klet me make changes. I can log on to the router but when I go to places/network/windows network it says "failed to retrieve share list from server". Looks like I'm going to have to learn 'ipadm' and 'dladm' commnads. Doesn't make since that I can't do this from the console.

Guess I'll start here Solaris 10 (x86/x64) : How to boot into single user mode from the Grub boot loader.

I tried the temp solution because /boot/grub didn't have a menu.lst file. My GBL didn't look like the one in the link. But I did find a line that mentioned multiboot and added a space and "-s" to the end of it and pressed F10. It booted to service maintenance something? and dropped me at a root# prompt. Not knowing what to do I entered "exit" CR. then it requested that I log on to console. I was still blocked from areas in the console.

I guess this is what I need. x86: Customizing the GRUB Configuration - Booting and Shutting Down Oracle Solaris 11.1 Systems

But it doesn't help until I know how to use it. Going to see if I can change my user permissions.