The Netgear Stora is a simple NAS system that allows anyone, even with no tech knowledge, to set up a simple network attached home RAID system. I plugged it in, slapped in a second hard drive, pushed the power button, and copied over my files. It was completely up and running within a few minutes. The Netgear Stora provided me an easy hot-swappable RAID system, but I wanted much more. I knew it was a fully functional, stand-alone, low-power linux server. The obvious next step was to root it.
Gaining root access on the Netgear Stora is amazingly easy. The first thing you need to do is get your product key. There is one located on the bottom of the device and one on the cd that came with it. Mine (for whatever reason) didn't match. For me the one on the Netgear Stora install CD was the correct one to use. This may not always be the case so try both.
Here is a picture where to find both (I edited out my product id and replaced it with X's)
NetGear Stora bottom
NetGear Stora CD
Gaining Root Access
Now that you have your Stora product id all you need to do is login via SSH using any user you have setup on your stora that has administrator access (in the web interface). However, if you just use the user name as is you won't be allowed access. Instead you have to add "_hipserv2_netgear_XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX" after the user name (replace the X's with your actual product key). For my example I will use my name Lenny as the user name and all X's for the product key. Any user with the administrator access flagged in the Netgear Stora web panel will have the ability to use the sudo command to gain root access.
Here is the process
NetGear Stora root
Why it works
From what I can tell this is just a lame attempt by the developers to keep the general public form being able to shell into the device while still allowing themselves to get in for debugging / testing. It looks like the distribution of linux packaged with the Netgear Stora is shipped with a custom SSH server that appends a string including the product keys to the authorized user list.
I recommend setting up the following items right away…
- Install a repository on your netgear stora
- Set up path / environment variables
- Install nano
- Install a C Compiler (GCC)
Mathi
July 11, 2010 at 2:08 am
Your the man
Thank you!
Dave
July 12, 2010 at 10:46 am
Thank you! This little trick has allowed me to go in and fix the Mac AFP FamilyLibrary problem I was having with the Stora. I’ve bookmarked this page for future reference, please don’t remove it!
Chris
July 13, 2010 at 1:29 am
This is brilliant, I also just fixed my FamilyLibrary access problem. Great work, thanks.
Martin
September 14, 2010 at 10:56 am
Hy,
Can anyone help me to compile C programms on my stora. The problem is, that I can’t find a compiler.
Thanks!!
Lenny
November 18, 2010 at 12:03 pm
Yea I just posted an article about it here: http://itslennysfault.com/install-gcc-compiler-on-the-netgear-stora
Note you have to first setup a repository OR you can probably just download GCC directly using wget, but I highly recommend just setting up iPkg and installing it that way.
Bobby
January 27, 2011 at 7:36 pm
Thank you mate. Really simple guide, with the correct info. It’s taken me about 30 seconds to putty in to my Netgear Stora. Now just to find custom firmware to completely replace or mod the built in restrictions….
Thanks very much
Jon Hartman
April 16, 2011 at 11:17 am
This doesn’t work anymore. I bought this Stora around the beginning of April and apparently admin users are no longer added to the sudoers file. You can log in, but no root access.
Lovers
August 5, 2011 at 1:07 pm
Nice article you wrote here. Thanks for this man!
Russ
February 11, 2012 at 9:54 pm
If you did not keep your CD as I didn’t, and don’t want to look for your product key on the device there is another way.
If you go into the Stora-Prefs at the very very bottom left in fine print you can click About Stora. It gives you the Product Key there
Goran
February 10, 2013 at 5:00 am
It doesn’t work with my stora.
If I type [email protected].x.x it ask the root’s password but I don’t know. I’ve tried to use the admin’s password, the code product, the mac address.
Someone could help me please.
snow6oy
August 18, 2013 at 12:07 pm
Worked for me. Got the product key using the method described by Russ. Cheers.
Ed Santana
December 27, 2013 at 6:15 pm
Maybe you can assist me. I just got a Stora and had it set up. I could not add any users except the admin. In the OpenStora forum it stated the issue may be Access Patrol Service. So I tried the final step as instructed.
vi /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0
# add your dns as: DNS1=”primary dns address” and optionally, if you have a backup dns server, DNS2=”second dns”
Well i messed up and missed a whole section. Now I get a constant blinking blue power light, any recommendations on how to correct this. I cant get into the SSH or even an ip address. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Peter Ossman
December 29, 2013 at 10:26 am
tHANKS!
Dan
March 8, 2014 at 6:28 pm
Does anyone know how to use the Stora for just a plain and simple network drive without all the stora crap?
I cant log into my stora as I cant remember my username and password and when I try to register it during the setup with the name I thought I gave it its incorrect.
I just want to be able to have the NAS icon in my shared devices list and forget about that clunky interface that we’re expected to use.
I attempted this process and got a response:
Macintosh:~ MacBook$ ssh [email protected].1.3
The authenticity of host ’192.168.1.3 (192.168.1.3)’ can’t be established.
RSA key fingerprint is
Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no)? y
Please type ‘yes’ or ‘no’: yes
Warning: Permanently added ’192.168.1.3′ (RSA) to the list of known hosts.
Connection closed by 192.168.1.3
I
I know what I want to do but not how to do it; or even if its possible.
The device is showing in my shared network devices list but obviously cant log in.
Any help appreciated.
Cheers
Dan
Matthew Carlson
March 29, 2014 at 2:05 pm
Lenny,
There used to be a site called openstora, that disappeared a few months ago, and collected this sort of information. I am trying to revive that community, I hope you don’t mind if I add some inks to your site as primary sources.
Dan,
I tried to add instructions on resetting the password at
http://openstora.ficfeed.com/wiki/index.php?title=Password_reset
Sebi
April 8, 2014 at 5:32 pm
Thanks Lenny, you made my day. Had no idea how to access my Stora after a firmware update failed… Thx again!
Phil
May 2, 2017 at 11:03 am
I have been trying to 2hard reset” my old ish Stora.
But the led sequence only does 3 sessions then it just goes back to as it was set, which I can’t remember password etc
Phil