*sulogin* will be connected to the current terminal, or to the optional _tty_ device that can be specified on the command line (typically _/dev/console_).
If the default method of obtaining the root password from the system via *getpwnam*(3) fails, then examine _/etc/passwd_ and _/etc/shadow_ to get the password. If these files are damaged or nonexistent, or when root account is locked by '!' or '{asterisk}' at the begin of the password then *sulogin* will *start a root shell without asking for a password*.
//TRANSLATORS: Keep {asterisk} untranslated.
+
Only use the *-e* option if you are sure the console is physically protected against unauthorized access.
*sulogin* looks for the environment variable *SUSHELL* or *sushell* to determine what shell to start. If the environment variable is not set, it will try to execute root's shell from _/etc/passwd_. If that fails, it will fall back to _/bin/sh_.
== AUTHORS
*sulogin* was written by Miquel van Smoorenburg for sysvinit and later ported to util-linux by Dave Reisner and Karel Zak.