Does linux auto reset unsecure root passwords?

[Red Squirrel]

At first I thought I was just typing it wrong, but its the 3rd time this happens to me.

I usually use root with password q1w2e3r4 for testing lab environments. Often I'll log in, do something, then reboot or log out, and that password randomly stops working, so I have to use a boot CD to "crack" into the installation and change the password. Does linux auto reset it because its a weak password?

 

[Nothinman]

No you're doing something wrong, Linux won't touch your passwords automatically and root is allowed to set any user's password to whatever he wants no matter how insecure. I suppose some distro could implement something like that but none that I know of do such a thing and I can't imagine they'd do it without giving you a warning.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Odd, since it happened to me with Trustix Linux as well as Ubuntu. I always set that same password for test stuff as its fast and easy to type in, then randomly it stops accepting it. So if I'm doing something wrong, what is it?

 

[Nothinman]

I have no idea what you're doing but it has to be something.

 

[Red Squirrel]

all I do is install Linux, specify password, and I just login with that password. That simple. Sometimes it wont work. First time I figured I just typed it wrong twice when specifying, but this has happened to me 3 times, so its not that. (thats not really a password you can make a typo at). Also I've successfully logged in, reboot, then it stopped working.

Though I just realized I forgot to put selinux=0 in grub for kernel argument, and running linux without that (even if selinux is disabled) causes weird things to happen.

 

[Nothinman]

There has to be something else going on because nothing in Ubuntu changes passwords behind your back.

Though I just realized I forgot to put selinux=0 in grub for kernel argument, and running linux without that (even if selinux is disabled) causes weird things to happen.

That sentence makes no sense because 'selinux=0' does disable selinux and selinux doesn't cause weird things to happen although depending on the policy that you have enabled it can cause things to fail that would normally work.