The adduser --system command creates a system account without root privileges by default. If you need to grant full administrative access to a new user, you'll need to explicitly configure sudo permissions.
Here's the complete process for creating a user with root-equivalent access:
sudo adduser newadmin
sudo usermod -aG sudo newadmin
After creating the user, verify they can execute commands with root privileges:
su - newadmin
sudo whoami
# Should output "root"
For direct root access without sudo (not recommended for security reasons):
sudo adduser --uid 0 --gid 0 newroot
# OR modify existing user:
sudo usermod -u 0 -g 0 existinguser
When granting root privileges:
- Always use strong passwords
- Consider using SSH keys instead of passwords
- Limit root access to specific commands when possible
To customize sudo access through the /etc/sudoers file:
sudo visudo
# Add this line for full access:
newadmin ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL
# Or for specific commands only:
newadmin ALL=(ALL:ALL) /usr/bin/apt,/usr/bin/systemctl
When you need to create a new user with root-level access in Linux, the adduser command alone won't suffice. The --system flag actually creates a system account without a password and with restricted privileges, which is the opposite of what we want.
Here's the proper way to create a new user with root privileges:
sudo adduser newadmin
sudo usermod -aG sudo newadmin
For different use cases, consider these approaches:
# Method 1: Adding to sudoers file directly
echo "newadmin ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL" | sudo tee -a /etc/sudoers
# Method 2: Using visudo (safer)
sudo visudo
# Then add: newadmin ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL
After setup, verify the new user's privileges:
sudo -U newadmin -l
Granting root access should be done carefully:
- Only give root access to trusted users
- Consider using
NOPASSWDonly in specific cases - Regularly audit your sudoers file
If the new user still can't execute sudo commands:
# Check group membership:
groups newadmin
# Verify sudoers configuration:
sudo cat /etc/sudoers | grep newadmin