Hosting pros, what is "Root access"?
 

Whenever I buy software for my site the programmer wants "Root access" to my server to install it.

And all the hosts Ive used say "no" they dont allow it.

What is root acccess, why does every host say no, and why do software companies ask for it if every host says no?

security reasons primarily why they will not allow root access for a managed box

If you have a dedicated you should for sure be permitted root access IMO. If It's managed hosting you can just ask the hosting to install the script though or the things needed for the software.

Oh and: http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=what+is+root+access%3F

:)

most programers dont ask for root access :2 cents:

Some will need root to install dependencies or requirements the scripts need. Just have your host install it for you.

You on virtual hosting accounts?

Everything you're being told here is correct. If you manage your own machine you should get root access... If it's managed then your host can/should be able to install it for you.

You are on a dedicated server, right?

yeah. i have my own managed server.
the admin will install software for me and the software companies seem to hate that they cant just do it themselves.
its happened a few times, leads to many delays

You normally never need root to install a script unless required software is missing which should be a task for your host really.

Root access is the same as the administrator account on windows, it is the highest level of access. Hosts are hesitant to give it out when they manage the box as you can easily screw things up if you don't know what you are doing. We also keep documentation of each box so if something changes outside our knowledge that is a pain in the ass also.

You can have root access only on VPS and Dedicated accounts. Basically its the master admin on Linux (God mode). Username is always root so you need to send the developer just the password. This allows them to see and modify EVERYTHING on the server so be very careful who are you giving your root password to. Some hosts don't use root account instead they use keys to login (more secure since you don't enter the password) and because there are two keys etc... also some hosts (managed ones) don't want to give root password since you may fuck something up and then it's their problem to fix that... For most programmers its really not needed unless you need some server work (hardening, optimizations etc...)... For most of the scripts and site work FTP and MySQL passwords are enough....

If you need any help feel free to contact me
http://www.awmzone.com/services

Often when people ask for "root access" what they really mean is "shell access" or "unchrooted access". If the programmer is confused about that, they definitely should not have root access.

"root" is basically like Administrator in Windows, except that Windows is 25 years behind on exactly what that means. Basically, user "root" can do anything, whereas normal users like yourself can only alter your own web files, not screw with the OS. Only "root" can mess with the OS and certain system services like Apache, the web server.

As far as root access to install software, let's put it this way. Anyone who wants root access should know what they are doing, and should be very conscious of security issues. People who know what they are doing and are very careful about security don't normally use PHP much. Thus, if they wrote their software in PHP, they shouldn't have root access. I'm only half kidding about that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superuser :2 cents:

Root access is god access ..

Give them that access and they can bring down a server if they are not super careful.
It is also another way to log into a server and that means you have to be careful of your username and password.

Unix-like systems assume that the system administrator knows exactly what he or she is doing and that only such individual(s) will be using the root account. Thus, there is virtually no safety net for the root user in the event of a careless error, such as damaging or deleting a critical system file (which could make the entire system inoperable).