vagrant login as root by default

Question

Problem: frequently the first command I type to my boxes is su -.

Question: how do I make vagrant ssh use the root user by default?

Version: vagrant 1.6.5

Answer 1

This is useful:

sudo passwd root

for anyone who's been caught out by the need to set a root password in vagrant first

Answer 2

Solution:
Add the following to your Vagrantfile:

config.ssh.username = 'root'
config.ssh.password = 'vagrant'
config.ssh.insert_key = 'true'

When you vagrant ssh henceforth, you will login as root and should expect the following:

==> mybox: Waiting for machine to boot. This may take a few minutes...
    mybox: SSH address: 127.0.0.1:2222
    mybox: SSH username: root
    mybox: SSH auth method: password
    mybox: Warning: Connection timeout. Retrying...
    mybox: Warning: Remote connection disconnect. Retrying...
==> mybox: Inserting Vagrant public key within guest...
==> mybox: Key inserted! Disconnecting and reconnecting using new SSH key...
==> mybox: Machine booted and ready!

Update 23-Jun-2015: This works for version 1.7.2 as well. Keying security has improved since 1.7.0; this technique overrides back to the previous method which uses a known private key. This solution is not intended to be used for a box that is accessible publicly without proper security measures done prior to publishing.

Reference:

• https://docs.vagrantup.com/v2/vagrantfile/ssh_settings.html

Answer 3

This works if you are on ubuntu/trusty64 box:

vagrant ssh

Once you are in the ubuntu box:

sudo su

Now you are root user. You can update root password as shown below:

sudo -i
passwd

Now edit the below line in the file /etc/ssh/sshd_config

PermitRootLogin yes

Also, it is convenient to create your own alternate username:

adduser johndoe

Wait until it asks for password.