Creating a sudo-enabled user

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By default, the root user is set up when Linux is installed. This user has all rights to administer the operating system. The other users initially have no administrator authorisations. Authorised users can execute programs with root rights using the sudo command. This article explains how to create a sudo-enabled user.

Create user

CentOS Stream 8, CentOS Stream 9, AlmaLinux 8, AlmaLinux 9, Rocky Linux 8, and Rocky Linux 9

Log in as the root user on the desired server.
To create a new user, enter the following command:
[root@localhost ~]# adduser USERNAME
Example:
[root@localhost ~]# adduser johndoe
To set the password for the new user, enter the following command:
[root@localhost ~]# passwd USERNAME
Example:
[root@localhost ~]# passwd johndoe
Enter the desired password and repeat it.

Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 10, Debian 11 and Debian 12

Log in as the root user on the desired server.
To create a new user, enter the following command:
[root@localhost ~]# adduser USERNAME
Example:
[root@localhost ~]# adduser johndoe
Enter the desired password and repeat it.
Optional: Enter additional user information. To skip entering this information, press the Enter key.
Changing the user information for johndoe
Enter the new value, or press ENTER for the default
Full Name [ ]:
Room Number [ ]:
work Phone [ ]:
Home Phone [ ]:
Other [ ]:
Is the information correct? [Y/n]
Type Y and press the Enter key.

Suse Linux

Log in as root user on the desired server.
To create a new user, enter the following command:
localhost: ~ # useradd USERNAME
Example:
localhost: ~ # useradd johndoe
To set the password for the new user, enter the following command:
localhost: ~ # passwd USERNAME
Example:
localhost: ~ # passwd johndoe
Enter the desired password and repeat it.

Test sudo and install if necessary

Test whether sudo is installed. To do this, enter the following command:
sudo ls -la /root
If the message bash: sudo: command not found is displayed, sudo is not installed.
If sudo is already installed, you can skip this step. To install sudo, enter the following command:

CentOS Stream 8, CentOS Stream 9, AlmaLinux 8, AlmaLinux 9, Rocky Linux 8 and Rocky Linux 9
yum install sudo -y
Debian and Ubuntu
apt install sudo
Suse Linux
zypper in sudo

Install Vim

If the Vim editor is not installed, enter the following command(s) to install the programme:

CentOS Stream 8, CentOS Stream 9, AlmaLinux 8, AlmaLinux 9, Rocky Linux 8 and Rocky Linux 9

sudo yum install vim

Ubuntu and Debian

sudo apt-get install vim

Suse Linux

sudo zypper search vim
sudo zypper install vim

Assign sudo rights to a user

CentOS Stream 8 and CentOS Stream 9, AlmaLinux 8, AlmaLinux 9, Rocky Linux 8 and Rocky Linux 9

To assign sudo rights to a user in CentOS 7, CentOS Stream 8, and CentOS Stream 9 you must add the user to the wheel group. To add the user to this group, enter the following command:

[root@localhost ~]# usermod -aG wheel USERNAME

Example:

[root@localhost ~]# usermod -aG wheel johndoe

To check whether the change was successful, enter the following command:

localhost:~ # groups USERNAME

Example:

localhost:~ # groups johndoe

Debian and Ubuntu

To assign sudo rights to a user in Debian and Ubuntu, you must add the user to the sudo group. To add the user to this group, enter the following command:

[root@localhost ~]# usermod -aG sudo USERNAME

Example

[root@localhost ~]# usermod -aG sudo johndoe

To check whether the change was successful, enter the following command:

localhost:~ # groups USERNAME

Example:

localhost:~ # groups johndoe

Suse Linux

To assign sudo rights to a user in Suse Linux, proceed as follows:

Search for the packages system-group-wheel and system-user-mail. Enter the following command:
localhost:~ # zypper se wheel mail
To install the packages, enter the following commands:
localhost:~ # sudo zypper install system-group-wheel
localhost:~ # sudo zypper install system-user-mail
Open the file /etc/sudoers with the editor vim. Enter the following command:
localhost:~ # visudo
Make sure that the commenting out has been cancelled in the following lines. The # character at the beginning of the line may need to be removed:
# Defaults targetpw # ask for the password of the target user i.e. root
and
# ALL ALL=(ALL) ALL # WARNING! Only use this together with 'Defaults targetpw'!

Note

The vim editor has an insert mode and a command mode. You can call up insert mode with the i key. In this mode, the characters entered are immediately inserted into the text. To call up command mode, press the ESC key. If you use command mode, your keyboard input is interpreted as a command.

Warning!

If you only uncomment the line "Defaults targetpw" and leave the line ALL ALL=(ALL) ALL # WARNING! commented, all users will have access to the root level of the utilities by entering their own password.

Search for the entry User privilege specification.
To grant all members of the wheel group the rights to execute all commands, you must remove the # character at the beginning of the following line to remove the comment:
# %wheel ALL=(ALL) ALL
To save the changes, press the Escape key and then enter the following command:
:wq
To assign sudo rights to a user, you must add the user to the wheel group. To add the user to this group, enter the following command:
localhost:~ # usermod -a -G wheel USERNAME
Example:
localhost:~ # usermod -a -G wheel johndoe
To check whether the change was successful, enter the following command

localhost:~ # groups USERNAME
Example:
localhost:~ # groups johndoe
Create the file /etc/sudoers.d/userpw with vi. To do this, enter the following command:
localhost:~ # vi /etc/sudoers.d/userpw
Add the following entry:
Defaults !targetpw
To save the changes, press the Escape key and then enter the following command:
:wq

Test sudo-enabled user

To test whether the sudo authorisations work, proceed as follows:

To change the user, enter the following command:
[root@localhost ~]# su USERNAME
Example:
[root@localhost ~]# su johndoe
List the contents of the /root directory. To do this, enter the following command:
[johndoe@localhost ~]$ sudo ls -la /root
If you are using sudo for the first time in a session, you will be asked to enter the user's password.
Enter the user's password.