Users may find that they are unable to log in as the root user on MX Series devices. This article recommends checking whether the root user has been denied SSH access in the device configuration before troubleshooting further.
The root user login is not working. The following logs are seen:
Sep 18 13:48:10.039 JUNIPER_DEVICE login: Login attempt for user root from host [unknown] Sep 18 13:48:13.314 JUNIPER_DEVICE : LOGIN_PAM_AUTHENTICATION_ERROR: Failed password for user root Sep 18 13:48:13.314 JUNIPER_DEVICE : LOGIN_FAILED: Login failed for user root from host ttyu0 Sep 18 13:48:16.251 JUNIPER_DEVICE : Login attempt for user root from host [unknown] Sep 18 13:48:18.302 JUNIPER_DEVICE : LOGIN_PAM_AUTHENTICATION_ERROR: Failed password for user root Sep 18 13:48:18.302 JUNIPER_DEVICE ]: LOGIN_FAILED: Login failed for user root from host ttyu0
One of the reasons for the above problem may be configuration restriction for the root user from outside of the router/switch/firewall.
Some customers might have the following configuration, which restricts SSH for the root user. However, admins should be able to log in as the root user to the router shell directly than trying from a remote device.
Check whether the following configuration exists in your device, which restricts the root user from using the SSH service.
services { ssh { root-login deny; }
Check for the following message logs in the device if you cannot view a specific configuration due to your login profile view permissions.
If the problem is due to root-login being set to deny, perform the following to allow the connection:
root-login
set system services ssh root-login ? Possible completions: allow Allow root access via ssh deny Do not allow root access via ssh
If you find that the root-login deny configuration is not the cause for this problem, the event would need further investigation. Contact Support for troubleshooting further.
root-login deny