How to add a new user with sudo rights // Sandro Cirulli

sudo make me a sandwich — Image: xkcd – CC BY-NC 2.5

Let’s say you have a new user needing sudo access to a Linux server. How do you grant him/her this great privilege? First, explain to the new user that sudo rights allow to do pretty much anything on a Linux machine – including screwing everything up! – and that with greater power also comes greater responsibilities. Then, follow this procedure:

Create a new user (e.g. newusername) and add it to group wheel (members of this group have sudo rights):
```
sudo useradd -G wheel newusername
```
Set up the password for the new user. First, login as root:
```
sudo -i
```
Then set the password for the new user (e.g. newusername):
```
passwd newusername
```
Finally exit from root with:
```
exit
```
Test the newly created user and password by logging in as user newusername:
```
su - newusername
```
Test that the newly created user is in group wheel:
```
groups newusername
```