Unix Help in Mac Terminal

[Tokyo Express]

I have tried to get into root user with su - added the password which in return fails with the following message.

su: zsh: No such file or directory

I have tried to ise the command su - /bin/bash to force it wo use the Bash shell with no luck !

Any help / pointers would be much appreciated !

 

[robbieduncan]

The root user is "disabled" out of the box intentionally. Have you followed the instructions to enable root?

 

[Tokyo Express]

Hi,
I have enabled the root used in fact i have disabled it and re stated the pass word.

 

[BlueRevolution]

Just use

sudo su

No need to have the root user enabled, you can use your normal admin password, and you still can run all of your commands as root without having to sudo every command.

 

[belvdr]

I have tried to get into root user with su - added the password which in return fails with the following message.

su: zsh: No such file or directory

I have tried to ise the command su - /bin/bash to force it wo use the Bash shell with no luck !

Any help / pointers would be much appreciated !

Use this instead:

su -s /bin/bash -l

Then change your shell.

 

[jlindley]

bash$ sudo su -
.. enter YOUR password ..

"su -" means to become root and the "sudo" before that is the part that allows you to become root. This is all assuming that the account you are using has 'sudo' privileges. Members in the 'admin' group have it by default.

*You shouldn't have to 'enable' the root user..

Once you are 'root' I would highly recommend changing the root password.

bash# passwd
.. enter new password ..
.. confirm new password ..

*The whole changing your shell is completely optional and not necessary.

 

[belvdr]

bash$ sudo su -
.. enter YOUR password ..

"su -" means to become root and the "sudo" before that is the part that allows you to become root. This is all assuming that the account you are using has 'sudo' privileges. Members in the 'admin' group have it by default.

*You shouldn't have to 'enable' the root user..

Once you are 'root' I would highly recommend changing the root password.

bash# passwd
.. enter new password ..
.. confirm new password ..

*The whole changing your shell is completely optional and not necessary.

That's not correct. The command sudo allows non-privileged users to run some or all privileged commands without ever becoming root. The command su allows you to become root.

Now, if you do "sudo su -" or "su -", it is going to attempt to make you root. If the shell, normally specified in /etc/passwd but not sure where OS X does it these days, is incorrect, you'll get the error the OP specified. That's why specifying "-s" is important here.

 

[jlindley]

My fault! I just now read the "zsh: No such file or directory:

 

[Tokyo Express]

Fixed !

Ok i have used the following.

sudo bash
sudo -H -i
Entered the passwords
chsh it showed as zsh
chsh - s /bin/sh

exit
su -
im in !

 

[belvdr]

My fault! I just now read the "zsh: No such file or directory:

No problem. I had read your post before you edited and I agreed with what you said.

 

[BlueRevolution]

That's not correct. The command sudo allows non-privileged users to run some or all privileged commands without ever becoming root. The command su allows you to become root.

Now, if you do "sudo su -" or "su -", it is going to attempt to make you root. If the shell, normally specified in /etc/passwd but not sure where OS X does it these days, is incorrect, you'll get the error the OP specified. That's why specifying "-s" is important here.

Try it yourself. sudo su works perfectly well out of the box. I know; I use it.

 

[belvdr]

Try it yourself. sudo su works perfectly well out of the box. I know; I use it.

I know it does, but the definitions of what those utilities do was wrong. It is the way OS X is configured by default that allows "sudo su -" to work and "su -" to fail.