Installation guide

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A root password is the administrative password for your Red Hat Enterprise Linux system. You should only log in as
root when needed for system maintenance. The root account does not operate within the restrictions placed on normal
user accounts, so changes made as root can have implications for your entire system.
Note
The root user (also known as the superuser) has complete access to the entire
system; for this reason, logging in as the root user is best done only to perform
system maintenance or administration.
Figure 17.17. Root Password
Use the root account only for system administration. Create a non-root account for your general
use and su - to root when you need to fix something quickly. These basic rules minimize the
chances of a typo or an incorrect command doing damage to your system.
Tip
To become root, type su - at the shell prompt in a terminal window and then press
Enter. Then, enter the root password and press Enter.
The installation program prompts you to set a root password
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for your system. You cannot pro-
17. Set Root Password
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