Ubuntu

privelidges for upgrade

Asked by grindhead

Hi guys,

OK I installed Dapper Drake a few months back and haven't been regularly using it so can't remember what my admin/root password is. I am trying to get the update manager to activate so that i can upgrade to 6.10, then 7.04 then 7.10. However, when I try to run from Alt F2 :

gksu "update-manager -c -d"

i get the error message saying " Failed to run update-manager -c -d. The underlying mechanism (sudo) does not allow you to run this program. Contact the system administrator "

I am not sure if this means i am getting the password right or not, if i need to create another account or what else could be wrong!!! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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Allen Chemist
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danielgd (danielgd) said : 		#1

I haven't use Dapper for a long time, but I suggest to try instead:
gksudo "update-manager -c -d"

Hope it helps

Revision history for this message
grindhead (grindhead) said : 		#2

nope danielgd sorry, it didnt work but it is telling me that i am not the the sudoers file - how do i add to this please?

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Best Allen Chemist (alchemist) said : 		#3

You are somehow going to need to get into an administration account (if you have another account, use that one. I'm guessing since you are asking, you don't have another account).

To reset the root password, when you first boot up the computer you have the grub menu (where you would choose windows or linux if you had windows installed). There, choose one of the "Recovery mode" items

Once booted you should end up with a
[root@yourhostname ~]# <-- note #
prompt

from there, type
usermod -a -G admin yourusername

Also, at the same time, make sure that the admin group is in the sudoers file:
tail -5 /etc/sudoers

this should show:
# Members of the admin group may gain root privileges
%admin ALL=(ALL) ALL

If not, you can use your favourite editor to add the line
%admin ALL=(ALL) ALL
to the /etc/sudoers file (try pico /etc/sudoers, add the line, then ctrl+o ctrl+x)

Hope this helps

-Allen

Revision history for this message
grindhead (grindhead) said : 		#4

Thanks Allen Chemist, that solved my question.