Logging In to FreeBSD


After all the startup processes are complete, you see a couple of lines that look something like this:

FreeBSD/i386 (amnesiac) (ttyp0) login:


The hostname you configured during installation appears in the first line, along with a readout that tells you what console device you're using to access the system (this varies depending on whether you're accessing it remotely or locally, and on how many other users are already logged in; in this case, ttyp0 is the first "pseudo tty," or remote terminal). Enter the login name of the normal user (not the root user) that you created for yourself during the installation. Press Enter and then, when prompted, enter the password you gave yourself. Note that the password will not be displayed onscreen. Actually, nothing will be displayed onscreen. Don't worry, though. Your password is being read.

After you enter the password, the login program checks the password database for a match. If it finds one, you get a screen that looks something like this:

Last login: Tue Apr 10 15:19:17 on ttyp0 Copyright (c) 1980, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994         The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. FreeBSD 6.1-RELEASE #0: Thu Nov 3 09:36:13 UTC 2005 >


If this is the first time you log in with your normal user account, you probably won't see the first line, Last login. In the future when you log in, however, this line will be present.

Caution

It's a good idea to pay attention to the "last login" information. If, for example, FreeBSD says your last login was

Sat Sept 15 14:05:29


and you know you haven't used the system since September 8, someone else has logged in to your account in the interim. If something like this ever happens, you need to change your password immediately (use the passwd command and follow the instructions it gives). Also, be sure to notify your system administrator of the security breach (assuming you are not the system administrator). If you are the system administrator, see Chapter 30, "Network Security," for further information on what to do if you think your system has been compromised.


The rest of the screen shows copyright information as well as data about the kernel and when it was built. The final line is the shell prompt. When you see the shell prompt, FreeBSD is waiting for you to give it something to do.

Caution

Notice the difference between the command prompt you get this time and the command prompt you got last time (when you logged in as the root user). The root user's login prompt is the pound sign (#). A normal user's login prompt will usually be either $ for Bourne-style shells or % or > for C-style shells. The default shell in FreeBSD is tcsh, which is a C-style shell. Either way, the type of prompt you have serves as a constant reminder of whether you are logged in as root. If you are, be extra careful when issuing potentially dangerous commands.


If you mistype either the login name or the password, FreeBSD will respond with the following message:

Login incorrect login:


If this happens, simply try again, starting with your login name.

Tip

If you mistype your login name or password three times in a row, it may appear that the system has hung because it looks as if nothing is happening. Don't worrythe system isn't frozen. This delay is a security feature built into the kernel that helps reduce the effectiveness of passwordcracking programs that simply try random words as passwords to break into an account. The delay may get progressively longer on each mistype after three. Wait several seconds, though, and the login prompt will reappear.





FreeBSD 6 Unleashed
FreeBSD 6 Unleashed
ISBN: 0672328755
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 355
Authors: Brian Tiemann

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