User Management and sudo

Beginner5 min

Create, manage, and configure user accounts with proper sudo access and security settings.

Prerequisites

-Linux shell access
-Root or sudo access

Steps

List all users with login shells

View system users that can actually log in.

$ grep -v '/nologin\|/false' /etc/passwd | cut -d: -f1,6,7

Create a new user with home directory

Add a new user account with a home directory and default shell.

$ sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash -c 'Deploy User' deploy

Use -G to add the user to supplementary groups: -G docker,sudo

Grant sudo access to a user

Add a user to the sudo group for administrative access.

$ sudo usermod -aG sudo deploy

Always use -aG (append to group). Using -G without -a replaces all groups.

Check sudo permissions for a user

Verify what sudo commands a user is allowed to run.

$ sudo -l -U deploy

Full Script

full-script.sh

#!/bin/bash
# User Management Overview
set -euo pipefail

echo "=== Users with Login Shells ==="
grep -v '/nologin|/false' /etc/passwd | cut -d: -f1,6,7

echo ""
echo "=== Users in sudo Group ==="
getent group sudo 2>/dev/null || getent group wheel 2>/dev/null || echo "No sudo/wheel group found"

echo ""
echo "=== Recent Login Activity ==="
last -n 10 2>/dev/null || echo "last command not available"

echo ""
echo "=== User Commands ==="
echo "Create:     sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash <username>"
echo "Delete:     sudo userdel -r <username>"
echo "Add sudo:   sudo usermod -aG sudo <username>"
echo "Set passwd: sudo passwd <username>"
echo "Lock:       sudo usermod -L <username>"
echo "Unlock:     sudo usermod -U <username>"

FAQ

Discussion

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#!/bin/bash # User Management Overview set -euo pipefail echo "=== Users with Login Shells ===" grep -v '/nologin|/false' /etc/passwd | cut -d: -f1,6,7 echo "" echo "=== Users in sudo Group ===" getent group sudo 2>/dev/null || getent group wheel 2>/dev/null || echo "No sudo/wheel group found" echo "" echo "=== Recent Login Activity ===" last -n 10 2>/dev/null || echo "last command not available" echo "" echo "=== User Commands ===" echo "Create: sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash <username>" echo "Delete: sudo userdel -r <username>" echo "Add sudo: sudo usermod -aG sudo <username>" echo "Set passwd: sudo passwd <username>" echo "Lock: sudo usermod -L <username>" echo "Unlock: sudo usermod -U <username>"