Lost some of account rights

[Patton Echols]

On 04/28/2007 02:20 PM, Rashkae wrote:
> Patton Echols wrote:
>   
>> On 04/28/2007 11:48 AM, OOzy Pal wrote:
>>     
>>> I was trying to add me login name to group www-data so I did
>>>
>>> usermod -g www-data hab
>>> usermod -G www-data hab
>>>
>>> now, I lost my system menu. When I click on System I see only limited
>>> items. How can I re-gain my right.
>>>
>>>   
>>>       
>> FWIW, I'm pretty much a noob, but reading some man pages . . .:
>>
>> It looks like the problem is the use of the "-G" option.  The man page 
>> says that, if you don't list all your existing groups, then "usermod -G" 
>> will remove the user from any groups not listed.  So to add yourself 
>> back, you need to list all of the groups you should belong to. 
>>
>> Here is the section from man usermod
>> "
>>    -G, --groups GROUP1[,GROUP2,...[,GROUPN]]]
>>           A list of supplementary groups which the user is also a member of.
>>           Each group is separated from the next by a comma, with no
>>           intervening whitespace. The groups are subject to the same
>>           restrictions as the group given with the -g option. If the user is
>>           currently a member of a group which is not listed, the user 
>> will be
>>           removed from the group. This behaviour can be changed via -a 
>> option,
>>           which appends user to the current supplementary group list.
>>
>> "
>>
>> And here is the output on my system of "grep patton /etc/group"
>>
>> adm:x:4:patton
>> dialout:x:20:cupsys,patton
>> cdrom:x:24:haldaemon,patton
>> floppy:x:25:haldaemon,patton
>> audio:x:29:patton
>> dip:x:30:patton
>> video:x:44:patton
>> plugdev:x:46:haldaemon,patton
>> lpadmin:x:109:patton
>> scanner:x:111:cupsys,hplip,patton
>> patton:x:1000:
>> admin:x:114:patton
>>
>> If my system is typical, then you would want to do:
>>
>> usermod -G 
>> adm,dialout,cdrom,floppy,audio,dip,video,plugdev,lpadmin,scanner,hab,admin
>>
>> WARNING:  man usermod also says that the groups must exist.  Check to be 
>> sure before you do this.
>>
>> Better yet, see if someone who really knows can give you a better answer.
>>
>> GL
>>
>>     
>
>
> Unfortunately, with the -G option that was used, the only admin account 
> (which gives you right to sudo) was nuked.
>
> You'll have to reboot into a root shell and add yourself to the admin 
> group from there. (Sorry, I don't remember how Ubuntu boot menu is setup 
> by default, and can't verify atm)
>   
IIRC it is the "recovery" option in the grub menu