Ubuntu

need help with commands in Terminal

Asked by Doug Taylor

I tried to update with Update Manager--froze completely after download of updates and during their install so had to reboot...when I restarted and went back to update manager, got message that says I need to run 'dpkg --configure -a'...
when I go to Terminal, it says I need to be a superuser...so I typed 'su' and used password I use to start Ubuntu, but I keep getting authentication error...help!!

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arekkusu (arekkusu-r) said : 		#1

The root account is not enabled in Ubuntu (by default). This is why you can't use "su"

Ubuntu uses sudo (superuser do)
Which permit to launch a command as if you were a superuser (root).

shot answer:

sudo dpkg --configure -a

Revision history for this message
Max Schukin (schukin) said : 		#2

If you really need a persistent root login, use the following command:
sudo -i

For more information about sudo, see https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo

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