root access thru sftp

[deezee69]

im trying filezilla and WinSCP to login as root. i can sftp with login:xbmc Pass:xbmc and it work but i cant change files in any root area access denied, also tried login:root and Pass:root or just root. i need to replace the files in the lirc folder so i can get a xbox remote to work. also tried consol can login as root but i dont no what to do. i dont no how to set root access for sftp. (i want to just replace the files by drag and drop)

[l.capriotti]

You have to set a password for root to have sftp/ssh access as root; be aware that this goes away form Ubuntu standards - but that's your deliberate choice.

[deezee69]

how can i do that no linux experience. or can i replace the files i need in another way

[icekiller]

telnet, do
sudo passwd root
then typ your current pass & then the new pass for the root

after that do su
so you can login as root
then open up /etc/ssh/sshd_config and set "PermitRootLogin" to "yes".

You also need to restart the sshd process. This is done by killing the existing one (use ps -aux|grep sshd to get the process ID, then use kill to zap it), then restarting /usr/sbin/sshd

after that you can login with root with sftp

[deezee69]

thanks ice but i didnt understand most of what you said. where do i do this and is there a linux noob guide to doing this. like step 1 do this and so on. thanks

[morphy.g]

1- download a tool: "putty" (freeware)
2- start it and type in the field "Hostname (or IP adress)" the IP of your xbmc
3- it will ask you for name -> "xbmc" (without quots)
4- then the actual password
5- you are loged in
6- type now: "sudo passwd root" (without quots)
..thats it...

[deezee69]

i typed in sudo passwd root then it asked for password when i go to type something it wont let me type anything

[deezee69]

[sudo] password for xbmc:
thats what comes up but i cant type anything i then press ctrl + c and get "sudo: pam_authenticate: Conversation error"
.im sorry to say but linux is what i though it will be noob unfriendly

[Jester]

[sudo] password for xbmc:
thats what comes up but i cant type anything i then press ctrl + c and get "sudo: pam_authenticate: Conversation error"
.im sorry to say but linux is what i though it will be noob unfriendly

you have to type the password blind.... ie, nothing will be displayed on screen...

[deezee69]

thanks i do feel stupid. i just did it and then i relized i had to login with rooot then passwd
thanks everybody

[eamiryar]

I performed the steps above and was able to reset the password, but when attempting to login I get the following:

(T: XBMCLiveCD)xbmc@XBMCLive:/etc/ssh$ su
Password:
Your account has expired; please contact your system administrator
su: User account has expired

How do I "unexpire" the account?

nm, figured it out:
sudo passwd -u root