By jk3505
After instantiating an Ubuntu VPS droplet, I found myself needing to terminate and start over because I could not get back to being root after su’ing to another user account. Then I realized I never assigned a password to root, I had chosen the SSH option on the ‘Create Droplet’ page. How does this happen what’s the proper way to deal with this?
My objective is set up a simple OpenVPN account. What is the simplest way to achieve this?
This textbox defaults to using Markdown to format your answer.
You can type !ref in this text area to quickly search our full set of tutorials, documentation & marketplace offerings and insert the link!
Hi @jk3505,
When you SU to a user from being root, you can also use the combination CTRL + D or type in exit so that you go back to the user you were before you used su.
Additionally, if you want to turn on password authentication, you’ll need to enable it from the file /etc/ssh/sshd_config. In that file search for PasswordAuthentication and change NO to Yes on it. Once you do, save the file and restart the sshd serivce
service sshd restart
Please bear in mind allowing PasswordAuthentication is considered somewhat of a security risk, especially if your root password is weak.
Get paid to write technical tutorials and select a tech-focused charity to receive a matching donation.
Full documentation for every DigitalOcean product.
The Wave has everything you need to know about building a business, from raising funding to marketing your product.
Stay up to date by signing up for DigitalOcean’s Infrastructure as a Newsletter.
New accounts only. By submitting your email you agree to our Privacy Policy
Scale up as you grow — whether you're running one virtual machine or ten thousand.
Sign up and get $200 in credit for your first 60 days with DigitalOcean.*
*This promotional offer applies to new accounts only.