su: Authentication service cannot retrieve authentication info

[Moritz H]

Hi all,

Just managed to get Chrome OS running on my machine and have run into a problem. On multiple sites I have seen the use of the "sudo su" command but I am having some problems using it. 

I open the crosh and this is what I get:

Welcome to crosh, the Chrome OS developer shell. 

If you got here by mistake, don't panic! Just close this tab and carry on. 

Type 'help' for a list of commands. 

crosh> shell 
chronos@localhost / $ sudo su 
Password: 
su: Authentication service cannot retrieve authentication info 
(Ignored) 

localhost / #

Could someone explain this error or what I am doing wrong. I have already done a Google search but to no avail.

I'm running:

Version 36.0.1946.3 (264642)

Platform 5777.0.2014_04_20_0346 (Developer Build - buildbot) developer-build amd64-generic 

Thank you so much for any help whatsoever!

Welcome to crosh, the Chrome OS developer shell.

[Richard Barnette]

On 9/15/14, 8:58 AM, Moritz H wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Just managed to get Chrome OS running on my machine and have run into a
> problem. On multiple sites I have seen the use of the "sudo su" command
> but I am having some problems using it.
>
> I open the crosh and this is what I get:
>
> Welcome to crosh, the Chrome OS developer shell.
>
> If you got here by mistake, don't panic! Just close this tab and
> carry on.
>
> Type 'help' for a list of commands.
>
> crosh> shell
> chronos@localhost / $ sudo su
> Password:
> su: Authentication service cannot retrieve authentication info
> (Ignored)
> localhost / #
>
>
> Could someone explain this error or what I am doing wrong. I have
> already done a Google search but to no avail.
>

I expect the root cause of the behavior (or at least the fix)
will be buried in the PAM configuration that's set up at build
time. I don't know much about how it works.

In any event, it seems any questions about the message are
moot: Your transcript shows that after the message you have a
shell prompt as root.

If you don't want to see the message, either of the following
should also get you a shell as root without spurious complaints:
sudo -i
sudo bash

> I'm running:
> Version 36.0.1946.3 (264642)

> Platform5777.0.2014_04_20_0346 (Developer Build - buildbot)

> developer-build amd64-generic
>
> Thank you so much for any help whatsoever!
>
> Welcome to crosh, the Chrome OS developer shell.
>
>

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--
--jrb

[Mh]

Hi Richard,

Right I seem to now be aware of two things. Firstly, I wasn't aware that I indeed used the sudo su command successfully as I presume the red writing means I am now using the shell as the root user. Secondly, thank you for suggesting the sudo command with other parameters which has now resulted in 0 error messages.

Thank you very much!