Create a sudo user in Ubuntu -

Create a sudo user in Ubuntu

Last updated on: 2021-05-26

Authored by: John Garcia

This article describes how to grant sudo access to a new or existing user on the Ubuntu® operating system.

Create a new user

Use adduser command followed by the new <username>:

root@server-01:~# adduser newuser
Adding user `newuser' ...
Adding new group `newuser' (1001) ...
Adding new user `newuser' (1001) with group `newuser' ...
Creating home directory `/home/newuser' ...
Copying files from `/etc/skel' ...

At the prompt, enter the password for the new user twice to set and verify it.
```
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: password updated successfully
```

If you want to add contact information for the new user, enter it at the prompt or press ENTER to proceed with the defaults. When you finish, enter y to verify that the entered information is correct:

Changing the user information for newuser
Enter the new value, or press ENTER for the default
  Full Name []: New Hire
  Room Number []:
  Work Phone []:
  Home Phone []:
  Other []:
Is the information correct? [Y/n] y

Grant root permissions for a new or existing user.

Use visudo to edit the sudoers file.
```
root@server-01:~# visudo
```

Text similar to the following example displays:

GNU nano 4.8                       /etc/sudoers.tmp
#
# This file MUST be edited with the 'visudo' command as root.
#
# Please consider adding local content in /etc/sudoers.d/ instead of
# directly modifying this file.
#
# See the man page for details on how to write a sudoers file.
#
Defaults        env_reset
Defaults        mail_badpass
Defaults        secure_path="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:>

# Host alias specification

# User alias specification

# Cmnd alias specification

# User privilege specification
root    ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

# Members of the admin group may gain root privileges
%admin ALL=(ALL) ALL

# Allow members of group sudo to execute any command
%sudo   ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

# See sudoers(5) for more information on "#include" directives:

#includedir /etc/sudoers.d

Use the Down Arrow key to scroll to the following section:

# User privilege specification
root    ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

Add the newly created user by inserting <username> ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL at the end of the user privilege section, as shown in the following example:
```
# User privilege specification
root    ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL
newuser ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL
```
Press the Ctrl x to exit. Enter y to save, and click ENTER to finish.

Verify the permission change

Use su followed by the <username> to switch to the new user account:
```
root@server-01:~# su - newuser
newuser@server-01:~$ 
```
Use sudo -i to verify that the user account can elevate permissions. At the prompt, enter the new user’s password:
```
newuser@server-01:~$ sudo -i
[sudo] password for newuser:
root@server-01:~#
```
Use whoami to verify that you are currently the root user:
```
root@server-01:~# whoami
root
```

Use the Feedback tab to make any comments or ask questions. You can also start a conversation with us.

Cloud Servers