I am trying to log into a server with a particular account. Let's say I don't know the password for that account. Can I do this using ssh? I am wondering if it is possible to do it in one command, instead of logging in as root and running su.
4 Answers
Another approach would be
ssh root@host su - user
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2you'd have to make sure sshd.conf isn't set to squash root logins. You really don't want to do this (unless you're using key based auth, or some physical token, even then it's too risky)– skarfaceFeb 11, 2010 at 21:11
This doesn't make sense. If you're logged in as root, a plain su
doesn't do anything except start a new shell. Maybe you mean su someotheruser
?
As far as I know, most Linux installations don't allow root logging in remotely directly. One first has to log in as an ordinary user and su to become root.
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eh, plenty of systems allow root logins– jdizzleFeb 11, 2010 at 0:05
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You could probably accomplish this if you were willing to write a PAM module which caused entering the root password to make authentication succeed. Not going to be easy, but it would do what you want...