How To Add User To Sudoers & Add User To Sudo Group On Ubuntu

 Steps to Add Sudo User on Ubuntu

Step 1: Create New User

1. Log into the system with a root user or an account with sudo privileges.

2. Open a terminal window and add a new user with the command:

adduser newuser

The adduser command creates a new user, plus a group and home directory for that user.

You may get an error message that you have insufficient privileges. (This typically only happens for non-root users.) Get around it by entering:

sudo adduser newuser

3. You can replace newuser with any username you wish. The system will add the new user; then prompt you to enter a password. Enter a great secure password, then retype it to confirm.

4. The system will prompt you to enter additional information about the user. This includes a name, phone numbers, etc. – these fields are optional, and can be skipped by pressing Enter.

Creating a sudo user in Ubuntu

Step 2: Add User to Sudo Group

Most Linux systems, including Ubuntu, have a user group for sudo users. To grant the new user elevated privileges, add them to the sudo group.

In a terminal, enter the command:

usermod -aG sudo newuser

Replace newuser with the username that you entered in Step 1.

Again, if you get an error, run the command with sudo as follows:

sudo usermod -aG sudo newuser

The -aG option tells the system to append the user to the specified group. (The -a option is only used with G.)

Add user to sudo group ubuntu

Step 3: Verify User Belongs to Sudo Group

Enter the following to view the groups a user belongs to:

groups newuser

The system will respond by listing the username and all groups it belongs to, for example: newuser : newuser sudo

Step 4: Verify Sudo Access

Switch users by entering:

su - newuser

Replace newuser with the username you entered in Step 1. Enter your password when prompted. You can run commands as normal, just by typing them.

For example:

ls /home

However, some commands or locations require elevated privileges. If you try to list the contents of the /root directory, you’ll get an access denied error: ls /root

The command can be executed with:

sudo ls /root

The system will prompt for your password. Use the same password you set in Step 1. You should now see the contents of the /root directory.

verify sudo access in ubuntu