25th Anniversary Savings | 25% Off Dedicated Servers*Shop Now
25th Anniversary Savings | 25% Off VPS Hosting* †††Shop Now
Limited Inventory: High-Performance AMD-Powered Servers Now Available.* Shop Now >
Dedicated Hosting Deals | From $99/moShop Now

How to Add a User and Grant Root Privileges on Ubuntu 15.04

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Pre-Flight Check

  • These instructions are intended specifically for adding a user on Ubuntu 15.04.
  • I’ll be working from a Liquid Web Self Managed Ubuntu 15.04 server, and I’ll be logged in as root.

Step 1: Add the User

It’s just one simple command to add a user. In this case, we’re adding a user called mynewuser:

adduser mynewuser

First you will be prompted to enter the user’s password (twice); do this step. Next you’ll be prompted to enter in the user’s information. This step is not required, and pressing enter fills the field with the default information:

Adding user `mynewuser' ...
Adding new group `mynewuser' (1001) ...
Adding new user `mynewuser' (1001) with group `mynewuser' ...
Creating home directory `/home/mynewuser' ...
Copying files from `/etc/skel' ...
Enter new UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:
passwd: password updated successfully
Changing the user information for mynewuser
Enter the new value, or press ENTER for the default
Full Name []:
Room Number []:
Work Phone []:
Home Phone []:
Other []:

When prompted with the following question, enter Y then hit enter to continue.

Is the information correct? [Y/n] Y

Step 2: Grant Root Privileges to the User

visudo

Find the following code:

# User privilege specification
root ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

In this case, we’re granting root privileges to the user mynewuser. Add the following below that code:

mynewuser ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

Then exit and save the file with the key commands Ctrl-x, Y, enter.

If you’ve followed the instruction above correctly, then you should now have a user setup by the name of mynewuser which can use sudo to run commands as root!

About the Author: J. Mays

As a previous contributor, JMays shares his insight with our Knowledge Base center. In our Knowledge Base, you'll be able to find how-to articles on Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora and much more!

Latest Articles

What Is WebP and What Makes it Different from Other Image Formats?

Read Article

Top 10 Password Security Standards

Read Article

Top 10 Password Security Standards

Read Article

How to Install MongoDB on AlmaLinux

Read Article

How to Use the WP Toolkit to Secure and Update WordPress

Read Article