How to Setup Passwordless Sudo for a Specific User

In a Linux system, the root user is a superuser that has permission to access everything on the server. A standard user account only has limited privileges and can run only specific commands on the system.

The sudo command elevates a standard user account, granting root access to the system. Every time you sudo a sudo command you will be prompted for the sudoer password, which can become repetitive. However, there is a great way to securely configure a passwordless sudo account

In this tutorial, we will show you how to set up Passwordless Sudo in Linux.

Step 1 – Configure Passwordless Sudo For a Specific User

If you want to allow a user named vyom to execute sudo without a password, edit the /etc/sudoers file:

nano /etc/sudoers

Add the following line at the end of the file:

your_username ALL=(ALL:ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL

For example:

Atlantic-Admin ALL=(ALL:ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL

Save and close the file.

Then, run any superuser command with sudo:

sudo fdisk -l

You don’t need to provide any password after running the above command.

Step 2 – Configure Passwordless Sudo For a Specific Group

If you want to allow a member of a specific group named www-data to execute sudo without a password, edit the /etc/sudoers file:

nano /etc/sudoers

Add the following line at the end of the file:

%www-data  ALL=(ALL:ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL

Save and close the file when you are finished.

Step 3 – Configure Passwordless Sudo For All Users

If you want to allow all users to execute sudo without a password (note: this is only advisable in test systems and should never be used on production workloads), edit the /etc/sudoers file:

nano /etc/sudoers

Find the following line:

%sudo   ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

Replace it with the following line:

%sudo   ALL=(ALL:ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL

Step 4 – Configure Passwordless Sudo For Specific User to Execute Only Specific Command

If you want to allow a specific user named vyom to execute only “fdisk -l” command  without password, edit the /etc/sudoers file:

nano /etc/sudoers

Add the following line at the end of the file:

your_username  ALL=(ALL:ALL) NOPASSWD: /sbin/fdisk -l

Save and close the file when you are finished.

Now, only the user can only run the “fdisk -l” command without a password.

Conclusion

In the above guide, you have learned how to configure passwordless sudo for a specific group, specific user and all users. Ready to get started with Passwordless Sudo in Linux? Get VPS Hosting from Atlantic.Net today!

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