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In this article we will discuss about how To Add User To Sudoers on Mac and Linux. As a security measure, most Linux distributions don’t let the “root” user, also known as the “superuser,” log in by default. This is to keep the system from being damaged by changes made by accident or on purpose. This would be a disaster, especially in a business setting.
So, users can still do system-level tasks without taking the risks that come with logging in as the root user. To make things a lot clearer, this means that these newly-privileged user accounts will be able to run commands without getting permission denied errors or having to add “sudo” to the beginning of a terminal command.
This might be helpful in some complicated situations, but it could be dangerous in others, so it shouldn’t be changed on the fly. In Ubuntu and other Unix-based operating systems, the sudoers file is a configuration file that tells which users or groups can use the sudo command to do privileged tasks.
How To Add User To Sudoers on Mac
To add users to the sudoers, you have to use vi, which can be hard to understand if you haven’t used it before. For those who don’t know, we’ll list the exact key command sequences you need to edit, insert, and save a file in vi. Carefully follow the instructions.
- Launch Terminal and type the following command:
sudo visudo
- Use the arrow keys to navigate down to the “#User privilege specification” section, it should look like this:
User privilege specification root ALL=(ALL) ALL %admin ALL=(ALL) ALL
- Place the cursor on the next empty line below the %admin entry and press the “A” key to insert text. On a new line, type the following, replacing “username” with the short name of the account you want to give privileges to (hit tab between “username” and “ALL”).
username ALL=(ALL) ALL
- Now hit the “ESC” (escape) key to stop editing the file
- Hit the : key (colon) and then type “wq” followed by the Return key to save changes and exit vi
If you’ve tried all of these solutions and you’re still having the same problem in your Mac, you should go to their official Mac support website for more information.
How To Add User To Sudoers on Linux
via Terminal
- There are several ways of adding a user to the sudo group. The usermod command allows you to add existing users to groups.
sudo usermod -aG sudo bob
- Here, the -a flag stands for the Append operation, and -G specifies the sudo Group. You can verify whether the user bob was successfully added to sudoers via the groups command.
groups bob
- Alternatively, you can add bob to the sudoers file using the adduser command.
sudo adduser bob sudo
via GUI
You can also use Linux desktop environments to add users to the sudoers file in a graphical way. Once the user has been made, do the following.
- Go to Details from the Settings menu.
- Click on Users to access user settings.
- Click on Unlock from the top window.
- Enter your password when prompted.
- Click on user bob
- Change the Account Type to Administrator
FAQ
How do I add users to a list of sudoers?
- Sign in as “Root User.” Log into your server as the root user (ssh root@ip address) before you add a user.
- Debian: Add a New User. As the root user, you can use the adduser command to make a new user.
- User to the Sudo Group….
- Check if you have access to Sudo in Debian.
- Using Sudo.
How do I add myself to the sudoers file?
- Sign in as the root user or with an account that has sudo privileges.
- Open a terminal window and type adduser newuser into it to add a new user.
- You can use any username you want in place of newuser.
- You will be asked by the system to enter more information about the user.
How do I create a user in sudo Mac?
Type “sudo dscl.-create /Users/username” and hit “Enter.” Use a one-word name instead of “username” to identify the user. In the next steps, replace every “username” with the same one-word name. Enter the password for the administrator account on your computer and press “Enter” again.
Does Mac have sudo command?
By default, Mac OS X has the sudoers file include the admin group and give that group permission to run any command with sudo. Accounts in Mac OS X that have administrator privileges become part of the admin group and have full sudo access because of this.