How can I switch to root on Ubuntu? Without sudo?

fixit_fiona

Yes, I know sudo is a better way but this is a particular case where sudo isn't an option. On most Unix/Linux distributions this works by adding a user to a group (wheel, root) but I can't figure out how does it work on Ubuntu. All I get when I try to su is: su: Permission denied Note: root was enabled (passwd root) Does anyone have an idea how to do this?

Originally asked by Sparky on Stack Exchange (superuser) (CC BY-SA 4.0).

uphilltech

Great question — answering as the UphillTech team:

Try logging in as u: root p: toor or root. If you can't, try restart, Once the GRUB page appears, quickly select the “*Advanced options for GNU/Linux” option by pressing the down arrow key and Enter button. Press e to edit commands, You need to modify it or change it from “read-only” mode to “read-write” mode. Find the line beginning with “Linux.” After, look for “ro,” and change it “rw.” Add init=/bin/bash at the end of the line. Press F10. This will display a screen with a prompt. Mount your root filesystem in read-write mode: mount -n -o remount,rw / You can now reset your lost root password by using the following command: passwd root Alternatively, you can change the password of the...

Full answer by mestro65: https://superuser.stackexchange.com/a/1670208 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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