How do I set a blank password for the root user in slitaz [closed]

Question

I am running slitaz distro, and would like to completely remove the root password. I have tried giving a blank password to the passwd command, however that did not seem to do the trick. It gave me an error password was too short, ans it still asked me for a password when I ssh-ed in. The password was just hiting the "Enter" key.

UPDATE:
Perhaps it has to do with the fact that slitaz uses dropbear for ssh? Because even with a blank password for root in /etc/shadow, it still prompts for a password.

Answer 1

Did you try passwd -d root? Most likely, this will do what you want.

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You can also manually edit /etc/shadow: (Create a backup copy. Be sure that you can log even if you mess up, for example from a rescue system.) Search for "root". Typically, the root entry looks similar to

root:$X$SK5xfLB1ZW:0:0... 

There, delete the second field (everything between the first and second colon):

root::0:0... 

Some systems will make you put an asterisk (*) in the password field instead of blank, where a blank field would allow no password (CentOS 8 for example)

root:*:0:0... 

Save the file, and try logging in as root. It should skip the password prompt. (Like passwd -d, this is a "no password" solution. If you are really looking for a "blank password", that is "ask for a password, but accept if the user just presses Enter", look at the manpage of mkpasswd, and use mkpasswd to create the second field for the /etc/shadow.)