{"id":92150,"date":"2023-06-23T11:30:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-23T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jumpcloud.com\/?p=92150"},"modified":"2024-01-24T12:48:14","modified_gmt":"2024-01-24T17:48:14","slug":"creating-sudo-users-on-amazon-linux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jumpcloud.com\/blog\/creating-sudo-users-on-amazon-linux","title":{"rendered":"How to Create Sudo Users for Amazon Linux"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Jump to Tutorial<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Linux servers, allowing direct root access increases the risk of accidental or unauthorized changes that can harm your system. Instead, admins can create accounts for users that only have the access they need to perform their tasks \u2013 and no more (a principle known as least privilege<\/a>). These accounts are known as sudo users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is a Sudo User?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The term sudo stands for “superuser do,” and it is a command that gives users the ability to perform system-level tasks without compromising the security of the entire system. Sudo privileges are often necessary for performing administrative tasks like managing and troubleshooting system configuration, installing software, and editing system files. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sudo users are typically granted the ability to run specific commands or perform certain administrative tasks by modifying the sudoers file, which is a configuration file that defines the permissions and privileges associated with sudo. This allows system administrators to delegate certain administrative tasks to trusted users without giving them full root access, which can help enhance security and restrict unauthorized actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a user with sudo privileges wants to perform a command with elevated privileges, they simply need to prepend the command with “sudo” and enter their password to authenticate. Once authenticated, the command is executed with the privileges of the superuser or root.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Using sudo helps maintain a separation of regular user privileges and administrative privileges, reducing the risk of accidental system changes or unauthorized actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefits of Sudo Users <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sudo users offer a flexible and secure approach to system administration, granting necessary privileges to trusted users while maintaining control and mitigating potential risks associated with unrestricted access to administrative functions. A few of sudo\u2019s main strengths include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • Enhanced Security: <\/strong>Restricts privileges to only trusted users <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
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    • Access Control: <\/strong>Admins can specify which commands or actions sudo users are allowed to perform  <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
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      • Accountability: <\/strong>Sudo user actions are logged, including the specific command executed, leaving a good audit trail <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
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        • Flexibility:<\/strong> Allows users to perform administrative tasks without having to switch to the root or superuser account permanently<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          Today we will focus on creating sudo users when using Amazon Linux. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          How to Create Amazon Linux Sudo Users<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

          Amazon Linux is a popular choice when it comes to Amazon Web Services (AWS) environments because of its security and stability. Built on the CentOS and Fedora distributions, this distro option also provides regular patches and maintenance updates, keeping the system up-to-date and secure at all times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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