No root user

[Martin Gracik]

So, where are we standing on the "no root user" issue? If I remember
correctly the last discussion didn't end with a Yes or No answer.

[Bill Nottingham]

Martin Gracik ([e-mail]) said:
> So, where are we standing on the "no root user" issue? If I remember
> correctly the last discussion didn't end with a Yes or No answer.

Obviously whatever we do here may require anaconda/firstboot changes, but
is this really an anaconda discussion?

Bill

[Steve Allen]

Bill Nottingham  wrote:
> Martin Gracik ([e-mail]) said:
> > So, where are we standing on the "no root user" issue? If I remember
> > correctly the last discussion didn't end with a Yes or No answer.
>
> Obviously whatever we do here may require anaconda/firstboot changes, but
> is this really an anaconda discussion?

Well, yes, it is, as the discussion was about removing the option from
anaconda to set a root password.

I have been objecting to removing it entirely, as it would make my job
as a sysadmin harder.  A suggestion was made, which would work for me,
to move it to an option off the 'add user' page.

Thanks,
Steve

[Martin Gracik]

On Mon, 2011-03-28 at 11:31 -0400, Bill Nottingham wrote:
> Martin Gracik ([e-mail]) said:
> > So, where are we standing on the "no root user" issue? If I remember
> > correctly the last discussion didn't end with a Yes or No answer.
>
> Obviously whatever we do here may require anaconda/firstboot changes, but
> is this really an anaconda discussion?
>
> Bill

Yes, it's an anaconda and firstboot discussion, because I would be very
happy if I could move the create user part from firstboot to anaconda.

[David Cantrell]

Martin Gracik  wrote:
> On Mon, 2011-03-28 at 11:31 -0400, Bill Nottingham wrote:
> > Martin Gracik ([e-mail]) said:
> > > So, where are we standing on the "no root user" issue? If I remember
> > > correctly the last discussion didn't end with a Yes or No answer.
> >
> > Obviously whatever we do here may require anaconda/firstboot changes, but
> > is this really an anaconda discussion?
> >
> > Bill
>
> Yes, it's an anaconda and firstboot discussion, because I would be very
> happy if I could move the create user part from firstboot to anaconda.

I'm not in favor of that because the add user screen used to be in
anaconda before moving over to firstboot.  The decision there was based on
what steps were actually critical to installation and which were doable
after the system was installed.  Adding users was clearly something that
was not critical to installation.

I see no problem with removing the root password screen from the
interactive installation but leaving it in kickstart.  I think that would
still retain the flexibility for users during installation but further
simplify the interactive installer.

Firstboot's add user step should require either setting the root password
or adding at least one user.  If the latter, the user added should have
sudo enabled for the account.  If a root password is set, the sudo part
should be optional.  This all sounds similar to what was discussed before.

If we can come to an agreement, I say we propose it as an F-16 feature and
take the discussion there.

[Brian C. Lane]

On Tue, Mar 29, 2011 at 04:03:14AM -1000, David Cantrell wrote:
> Firstboot's add user step should require either setting the root password
> or adding at least one user.  If the latter, the user added should have
> sudo enabled for the account.  If a root password is set, the sudo part
> should be optional.  This all sounds similar to what was discussed before.

In f15 the wheel group has been enabled for sudo access and firstboot in
f15 has a checkbox to add the user as an administrator (wheel group).

The one place I am concerned with is interactive minimal installs where
no GUI is installed. There is no firstboot, so you need to be able to
setup root.

[Martin Gracik]

--

Martin Gracik

----- Original Message -----
> On Tue, Mar 29, 2011 at 04:03:14AM -1000, David Cantrell wrote:
> > Firstboot's add user step should require either setting the root
> > password
> > or adding at least one user. If the latter, the user added should
> > have
> > sudo enabled for the account. If a root password is set, the sudo
> > part
> > should be optional. This all sounds similar to what was discussed
> > before.
>
> In f15 the wheel group has been enabled for sudo access and firstboot
> in
> f15 has a checkbox to add the user as an administrator (wheel group).
>
> The one place I am concerned with is interactive minimal installs
> where
> no GUI is installed. There is no firstboot, so you need to be able to
> setup root.

Right, also if anything goes wrong and firstboot does not start,
you cannot login to the system at all, because you don't even have
a root password. What I personaly would like to see is a create
user screen in anaconda *instead* of the root password screen, so
the number of screens will not increase.
This way, even without firstboot, there's no problem with gdm login,
and all the firstboot screens are more optional. In the present state
the create user screen in firstboot is mandatory to have a properly
working system.
> --
> Brian C. Lane | Anaconda Team | IRC: bcl #anaconda | Port Orchard, WA
> (PST8PDT)
>
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