root login

@Todd Reichert
Please do not post with the complete text of the previous message included. It makes things very confusing for those of us who use the web interface at https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/146767 (which includes almost everyone who answers questions).

It is neither necessary nor desirable to be able to log on as root, in order to accomplish the tasks you wish to accomplish. Any user in the "admin" group (i.e. administrators) has the ability to run commands as root with "sudo", and to get a root shell which simulates a login shell with "sudo -i". Please see actionparsnip's post and the link therein.

If you want to run graphical programs as root, you can do that with "gksu". You can even create launchers in Nautilus that run commands prefixed with "gksu ". If you want to graphically browse and edit files as root, you can run Nautilus itself as root ("gksu nautilus" -- you can enter this command in the Terminal or in the Alt+F2 dialog box). If you open a file using that Nautilus window, the application that opens it (for example, a text editor) will be running as root.

If you don't understand what I have just said (or what actionparsnip said), or you are having trouble putting it into practice, please post again with details, and we'll help you.

Actually logging in as root is discouraged on Ubuntu systems. The OS is designed specifically to ensure that you never have to do that. This is widely considered to be a security benefit, since (1) if you log on as root (especially if it's a graphical login), you run lots more programs as root than you would by using sudo and gksu and (2) a lot of automated scripts designed to take control of people's computers for malicious purposes try to (remotely) log in as root, which might potentially work if root logins are enabled. A tiny security vulnerability in a program running as root could compromise your whole system, more so than if it were in a program ran as a limited user. A tiny stability bug in a program running as root could potentially break your whole system. Furthermore, you may experience some bugs if you log in as root graphically on Ubuntu; since this is nonstandard user behavior, many programs have not been extensively tested in this context.

With that said, if you understand that you do *not* need to log in as root to do what you want to do, and that you do *not* need to log in as root to do it easily and with GUI programs, and you *still* want to log in as root, then you can enable root logins by opening a Terminal window (Applications > Accessories > Terminal) and running the command:

sudo passwd root

To run a command, paste it in (or type it in exactly) and press enter. You will probably first be asked for your own password. (But it is possible that you will not be asked for your own password; this sometimes occurs if you have just recently performed some other administrative task, and your authentication for that is still current.) Once you have entered your own password, you will then be asked to enter root's new password, twice. Make sure this is a strong password, and it is best that it not be the same as your login password (mainly to prevent you from confusing your own account with the root account, which, on systems that have root logins enabled, is a very common mistake even among experienced users and system administrators). Then you can log in as root. If after this you still cannot log in as root, then you'll have to go to System > Administration > Login Screen and configure the login screen to allow you to type in the username of the user you wish to log in as (which, for root, is just "root").

By the way, when you enter passwords in the Terminal, you don't see any placeholder characters (like *). That's OK--just type them in and press enter.