Feb 26

There are times when you just need to create a user that does not require a password. I have young kids and I trust them but they don’t know the concept of security and just know how to login and play.
In XP, creating a user with a blank password is as easy as clicking the ‘Remove my password’ in User Accounts. In Ubuntu, however, there are no remove passwords that you can find. Although, it is not evident, creating a user with a blank password is not that difficult but does require that you do know how to use the terminal.
Anyway, to create a user with a blank password in Ubuntu Hardy, do the following.

1. Go to System -> Administration -> User and Groups
2. Create a new user include a new password, this does not really matter so just create anything that comes to mind.
3. Open a terminal (Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal)
4. Type su and enter your root password (this will switch you to the root user)
5. Type gedit /etc/shadow (you can use your favorite editor if you don’t like gedit)
6. Look for the line containing your new user
7. newuser:$1$5druSp26$nVpXn5EVk73sWzZlhLuXNB1:13996:0:99999:7:::
8. Replace the highlighted text with U6aMy0wojraho
9. newuser:U6aMy0wojraho:13996:0:99999:7:::
10. Save the file
11. That’s it, the user now contains a blank password. You can now login without the password. Enjoy!