Introduction
Before we begin talking about how to create a New Sudo-enabled User on Rocky Linux 8, let's briefly understand – What is sudo?
The sudo command provides a method for granting regular users the administrator privileges that are often only granted to the root account. You won't need to change the /etc/sudoers file on your server in order to follow the instructions in this guide to create a new user with sudo access on Rocky Linux 8.
In this tutorial, you will create a New Sudo-enabled User on Rocky Linux 8. We will also address a few FAQs on how to create a New Sudo-enabled User on Rocky Linux 8.
Step 1 — Logging Into Your Server
SSH as the root user into your server:
ssh root@your_server_ip_address
Change the above your_server_ip_address to your server's IP address or hostname.
Step 2 — A New User is Added to the System
To add a new user to your system, issue the command adduser:
adduser sammy
Make sure you substitute the desired username for sammy.
To change the new user's password, use the passwd command:
passwd sammy
Do not forget to substitute the newly created user for sammy. Two new password requests will be sent to you:
Output
Changing password for user sammy.
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.
Step 3 — Including the User in the Wheel Group
To include the user in the wheel group, issue the usermod command:
usermod -aG wheel sammy
Again, be sure to switch sammy with the username you want to have sudo access to. On Rocky Linux, all members of the wheel group come pre-configured with full sudo access.
Step 4 — Testing sudo Access
Use the su command to switch from the root user to the new user account before testing the new sudo permissions:
su - sammy
Check that you can use sudo as the new user by adding sudo before the command you wish to run with superuser privileges:
sudo command_to_run
You can, for instance, list the contents of the /root directory, which is usually only available to the root user:
sudo ls -la /root
You will be asked for that user's account password the first time you use sudo in a session. To proceed, enter the password:
Output
[sudo] password for sammy:
The command you used with sudo will run with root privileges if your user is in the correct group, and you supplied the correct password.
FAQs to Create a New Sudo-enabled User on Rocky Linux 8
How can I set a password for the newly created user?
After creating the user, you can set a password using the passwd command, like sudo passwd myuser. You will be prompted to enter and confirm the new password.
What is the command to add the new user to the sudoers group?
To add a user to the sudoers group, use the usermod command with the -aG sudo option, like sudo usermod -aG sudo myuser.
Can I create a new user and grant sudo privileges simultaneously?
Yes, you can create a new user and grant sudo privileges in one command. Use adduser instead of useradd, like sudo adduser myuser sudo.
How can I verify if a user has sudo privileges?
You can use the sudo -l command to check the sudo privileges of a user. It will display the user's allowed sudo commands, if any.
What should I do if the newly created user is unable to use sudo?
Ensure the user is added to the sudoers group correctly. You can verify this by checking the sudo group membership using the groups command.
Can I remove sudo privileges from a user?
Yes, you can remove sudo privileges from a user by removing them from the sudoers group. Use the deluser command, like sudo deluser myuser sudo.
What is the recommended way to create a user and manage sudo on Rocky Linux?
It is generally recommended to use the adduser command to create a user and include them in the sudo group using the usermod command, ensuring both steps are successful.
Conclusion
In order to grant sudo access, you created a new user account in this quick-start tutorial and added it to the wheel group.
If you have any queries or doubts, please leave them in the comment below. We'll be happy to address them.