Learn step-by-step how to create a new user with sudo privileges in Linux. This tutorial covers adding the user, granting sudo access, and configuring password-less sudo for seamless command execution. Perfect for system administrators and Linux enthusiasts looking to streamline user management.

Step 1: Log in as Root or a User with Sudo Privileges

To add a new user, you need to be logged in as the root user or another user with sudo privileges. If you are not logged in as such a user, log in now.

Step 2: Add the New User

Use the adduser command to add a new user. Replace username with the desired username for the new user.

sudo adduser username

You will be prompted to set a password and fill in additional information for the new user.

Step 3: Add the User to the Sudo Group

In many Linux distributions, adding a user to the sudo group will grant them sudo privileges. Use the following command to add the new user to the sudo group:

sudo usermod -aG sudo username

Step 4: Verify the User’s Sudo Privileges

Switch to the new user to verify that they have sudo privileges.

su - username

Once switched, use the following command to check if the user can use sudo:

sudo whoami

If the user has sudo privileges, the output will be root.

Step 5: (Optional) Configure Sudoers File for Specific Permissions

For more specific control over what the user can do with sudo, you can edit the /etc/sudoers file using the visudo command. This file allows you to define specific permissions and restrictions for sudo users.

Open the sudoers file for editing:

sudo visudo

Add a line at the end of the file to give the user specific sudo privileges. For example, to allow the user to run all commands with sudo, add:

username ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

Allow a user to run sudo commands without entering a password, you need to add a line for the user to allow them to run sudo commands without a password. Replace username with the actual username.

username ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL

Save and exit the file.

Verification

To verify that the changes have been applied correctly, switch to the new user and run a sudo command without a password:

su - username
sudo apt-get update

The command should execute without prompting for a password, and the output should be root.

Summary

Here are the commands summarized:

  1. Add a new user:
    sudo adduser username
  2. Add the user to the sudo group:
    sudo usermod -aG sudo username
  3. Switch to the new user and verify sudo privileges:
    su - username sudo whoami

By following these steps, you will successfully add a new user with sudo permissions in Linux.