2 shells for root

[Uzytkownik]

Hello.

I'd like to have 2 shells for root. One is zsh for such tasks as installing new software etc. However in case of emergency - when for example /usr is not mounted - I prefere to have bash.

Is it possible to set bash as rescue shell - i.e. when admin intervention is requested after failed fsck or in interactive boot mode?
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[NeddySeagoon]

Uzytkownik,

Yes. Copy your boot stanza in /boot/grub.grub.conf and rename the copy to Rescue.

On the end of the kernel line in the Rescue add init=/bin/bash or whatever shell you would like.
When you boot this option, the system comes up very fast as the kernel just runs the shell.
There are no services running, only root / is mounted and there is no environment set.
Its just the kernel and your shell.

if you want it to work when glibc is broken, you need to build your chosen shell statically, busybox is a favorite for this.
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Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

[Uzytkownik]

[Mike Hunt]

Create a new user account with the other shell as default, login and su.

[desultory]

You could set the default shell to bash, have it check for /usr/ being mounted and whatever other conditions and if it seems to not be some anticipated form of emergency start zsh with exec.

[Jaglover]

In FreeBSD it is recommended to create another user toor with root privileges:

[desultory]

Some, badly implemented, utilities specifically check for the name "root", though that is not exactly specific to Linux. Aside from that it should work.

[Uzytkownik]

Ok. Thanks.
_________________
I've probably left my head... somwhere. Please wait untill I find it.