dsenableroot

Enable or disable the root account.

Syntax
      dsenableroot [-d] [-u username] [-p password] [-r rootPassword]

Key
   -u   Username of a user that has administrative privileges on this computer.

   -p   Password to use in conjunction with the specified username.
        If this is not specified, you will be prompted for entry.

   -r   Password to be used for the root account.
        If this is not specified for enabling, you will be prompted for entry.

dsenableroot sets the password for the root account if enabling the root user account. Otherwise, if disable [-d] is chosen, the root account passwords are removed and the root user is disabled.

Examples

Sets a password and enable the root account, your username will be used and you will be queried for both your
password and the new root password:

$ dsenableroot

Disable the root account, your username will be used and you will be queried for your password:

$ dsenableroot -d

The supplied arguments will be used to enable the root account:

$ dsenableroot -u fred -p flintst003 -r rootpa55w0rd

The supplied arguments will be used to disable the root account:

$ dsenableroot -d -u fred -p flintst003

“Make mistakes, make mistakes, make mistakes. Just make sure they’re your mistakes” ~ Fiona Apple

Related macOS commands

groups - Print group names a user is in.
passwd - Modify a user password.