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Re: telnet acces for root ?



David J. Evans writes:
> I've set up a test PC with Debian 1.1 and want to 
> administer it remotely but am refused a telnet connection 
> as root ... is there a way around this ?  Do I have to give 
> root privs. to a named user or can I enable telnet 
> connections as root ?
> 
> The machine normally has no screen or keyboard - hence the 
> need for telnet access !
> 
> Thanks in advance
> 

As a general rule, root should only be used for the actual
administrating commands and not for things like reading email, news,
etc...  So, most people (that I know of) that administer from afar do
something like the following.  Each person that administrates (or just
you if you like) has a real account that they telnet to.  From that
account they su to root anytime they need to be superuser.  That means
someone must crack your password *and* root's password before they get
complete access to your system.  That is why root login is disabled
from telnet by default.  It is also a good idea to have mail to root
redirected to your real account so that root never has to read mail
either.

Good Luck,
Erv

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