How to Add a User to Sudoers on Ubuntu

In many Linux environments, it’s common to grant sudo access to non-privileged users for performing administrative tasks. This practice ensures that certain actions, typically requiring root privileges, can be executed without granting full root access.

This tutorial will guide you through a step-by-step procedure to add a user to the sudoers list on Ubuntu.

Step 1: Create a New User

The first step involves creating a new user. For this example, we’ll create a user named “chetansoni.” Use the following command:

useradd -m chetansoni

The `-m` option ensures the creation of the user’s home directory if it doesn’t exist.

Step 2: Set User Password

Set a password for the newly created user using the `passwd` command:

passwd chetansoni

Step 3: Verify User

Check if the user has been successfully created by inspecting the `/etc/passwd` file:

cat /etc/passwd | grep -i chetansoni

This command will display details such as the username, user ID, group ID, and assigned shell.

Step 4: Modify User Group

Add the user to the sudo group using the `usermod` command:

usermod -aG sudo chetansoni

This command appends the user to the supplementary group “sudo.”

Switch to the new user and verify the sudo group membership:

su - chetansoni
sudo whoami

Step 5: Add User to Sudoers using visudo

While adding the user to the sudo group often suffices, it’s advisable to also add the user to the `/etc/sudoers` file. Use the `visudo` command to open the file:

visudo /etc/sudoers

Add the following line to the file:

chetansoni ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

This line grants sudo privileges to the user “chetansoni.”

Note: Always use `visudo` to ensure there are no configuration errors in the sudoers file.

Step 6: Check Sudo Access

Finally, test sudo access by running a command that requires elevated privileges:

sudo service nginx start

If you encounter an error stating that the user is not in the sudoers file, double-check the entry in the `/etc/sudoers` file:

grep -i chetansoni /etc/sudoers

Following these six steps will enable a non-privileged user to perform administrative tasks on Ubuntu with sudo access. Always exercise caution when modifying user privileges to ensure the security of your Linux system.