Xandros - Running as Administrator

How do I run something as the 'root' user (Administrator)?

There are several ways to do this:

One-time graphical (GUI) application

If you want a one-time launch of a GUI application as root (such as K3B, for example):

• Launch -> Run Command...
• Type 'kdesu' followed by your application command line (e.g. 'kdesu k3b')
• It'll ask for the root password, and run the application with root access.

Command-line Session with no GUI applications

If you want a command-line session, and will not launch any GUI applications as root:

• Launch -> Applications -> System -> Administrator Tools -> Console (Administrator)
• or WindowsKey A S A C Enter

Command-line Session with GUI applications

If you want to have a command-line session, and you want to launch GUI applications as root:

• Launch -> Applications -> System -> Console
• Enter the following:

xhost +localhost
su -

• Then enter your root password.
• Then you can do any command-line stuff you want as root, and even launch GUI apps like K3b.
• You'll need to have them either in your path or know where they are and what options to invoke them with.
• Also, don't forget to put them in background mode (append a ' &') if you want to keep using your console at the same time.
• Remember that if you do put an app in background, you won't see any STDOUT or STDERR output.

Back to XandrosKwikis