This quick tutorial is going to show you how to enable login as Root account in Ubuntu 13.10 LightDM login screen.

NOTE: it is not recommended to do so unless you know exactly what you are doing. Root is a superuser, meaning it can do anything and everything – it is only meant for administrative tasks. Day-for-day tasks can bear a security risk that WILL be exploited if EVERYONE (or a large proportion of users) used root.

To get started, press Ctrl+Alt+T on your keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run command below to set a password as well as enable root:

sudo passwd root

[email protected]:~$ sudo passwd root
[sudo] password for handbook: 
Enter new UNIX password: 
Retype new UNIX password: 
passwd: password updated successfully

Then run command to allow manually type in username and password to login in LightDM.

sudo gedit /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/50-unity-greeter.conf

Add the below line and save the file:

greeter-show-manual-login=true

Now reboot your machine and you’ll see a new option “Login”, type root and the password to login.

login as root ubuntu 13.10

If you change your mind, run command to disable root account:

sudo passwd -l root

[email protected]:~$ sudo passwd -l root
[sudo] password for handbook: 
passwd: password expiry information changed.