How to remove ROOT user?

Hi all -

I installed Manjaro with ROOT and USER (ADMIN). When I try to use full backup software like BORG + VORTA I am not able to set the backup location due to user rights access. NOTE: Timeshift works fine and has no access problems.

It is my understanding that if I remove ROOT and only have 1 user account then software like BORG + VORTA which is a GUI for BORG will have not have rights access issues to create a repository for backup files.

Does anyone know of a simple process to remove ROOT user and only have 1 single user account with the same rights access as ROOT.

NOTE: I will research how to solve this problem and post my solution here. Thanks everyone for the guidance. I really love this community and Manjaro. Within 5 min of posting I received nearly 10 comments. Truly amazing beautiful community!

Thanks!

That is not possible.

https://forum.manjaro.org/t/tutorial-understanding-and-working-with-unix-filesystems-and-permissions/65793/2

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Since you cannot run Linux without there being an admin/root, I think you’ll need to solve your issue through a different approach :wink:

We’re fellow travelers - I use Timeshift for system-related backups and Vorta/Borg for my home user data. What I found to overcome some of the initial setup glitches was that I needed to change the permissions to “me” (as the non-root user) on the file systems targeted for backup storage.

If you are unfamiliar with how to do that, follow up on the forum as that help is readily available.

Good luck - those two backup platforms are awesome.

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That’s not how it works.

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I have a severe allergy to Windows OS and Mac OS. I have uncontrollable vomiting.

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Thank you! I will do some more searching on this issue. I will do it when I am fresh from a good night sleep.

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I understand that much about ROOT user and lower tier user groups. But there must be a simple way to allow apps such as Borg access to the system.

You bet.

Spoiler alert: you’ll need to grant yourself those (precious) root privileges while ensuring that - through the use of chown and chmod - you handover the filesystem ownership and permission rights you’ll need if you plan on running Vorta/Borg as “you” (rather than as the root/admin).

Kind of all makes sense after you wrap your head around the whole root vs user distinction … which is a very valuable feature you wouldn’t ever want to toss away, even if you could.

[BTW, I’ve had to fully reinstall Manjaro/Arch more than once and those Timeshift and Vorta backups were priceless. Barely missed a beat as a result.]

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I assume things will break. But in terms of security, I would prefer there was no security. But I like living on the edge.

It is possible but it is not a good idea. I am not personally interested in a secure environment. But certainly having no Root / super user will break some apps and create permission issues.

I appreciate you taking the time to comment, nonetheless. I am very thankful for all the wonderful people on this community.

borg provides an easy to use guide… and as a terminal application you would just use systemd or sudo where applicable.

https://borgbackup.readthedocs.io/en/stable/

Likely though … you dont need to use borg itself as sudo … but rather you would need sudo to create a new directory somewhere in system files and again to change its permissions. At which point you should probably be able to use borg with that directory without needing any extra permissions.

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Thank you very much. Your words are actually very insightful.

BTW - I dont mean to be so forward, but the way you write and communicate makes me feel like we could be good friends :slight_smile: Peace to you from Japan :slight_smile:

Yes I was a Distro hopper for the bette r part of 5+ years and for the past 2 years I have been on Manjaro. Something about Manjaro just feels so comfortable. The last big thing for me is to get the backup stuff dialed in. I do a CloneZilla backup every Sunday using a automation script. I have a 4 TB SSD drive just for timeshift and a second 4tb ssd for Borg/Vorta. For CloneZilla I use a IDE (Seagate 2TB for $25 each) drives because they are very cheap. I backup everything, especially my software development projects directory.

This is great. I think I will ditch VORTA and just use Borg. Or maybe I can use Vorta after I setup Borg via the command line. Either way I very much appreciate you posting the link.

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ooops I accidentally clicked the flag on my own post.