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The safest way to create a non-root administrator is to keep your current root or administrator SSH connection open, create a named account, add it to your distribution’s administrative group, and verify a second SSH session before changing root-login settings. Debian and Ubuntu normally use the sudo group; RHEL-family systems normally use wheel.
Use this safe sequence before changing SSH settings
Do not close the working root or administrator session while you create and test the replacement account. If the new account has a spelling error, an incorrect key, a missing group rule, or a broken sudoers file, that existing session is your recovery path.
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- Identify the VPS distribution.
- Create the account and its home directory.
- Grant the distribution’s normal administrative group, or create a narrowly scoped sudoers rule.
- Install and verify the user’s SSH key if key-based login is required.
- Open a completely new SSH connection as the new user.
- Check group membership, run
sudo -l, and validate a harmless command. - Only after those tests succeed should you consider disabling direct root login or password authentication.
Use a real login name everywhere you see username. The commands below assume an existing root shell or an administrator who already has sudo rights. A root shell can omit the leading sudo; leaving it in is harmless when the sudo command is installed and usable.
Identify the Linux distribution first
Run:
cat /etc/os-releaseLook for the distribution and release family in the output. The account-creation command and administrative group differ between Debian-family and RHEL-family images. Do not assume that a VPS image uses the same conventions as another image from the same provider.
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Create and authorize a user on Ubuntu or Debian
Create the account with adduser
Ubuntu documentation says Debian-based distributions encourage the adduser package for account management. From the open administrator session, run:
sudo adduser usernameThe interactive prompts normally ask for a password and optional descriptive fields. The command creates the account and its home directory. You can leave optional identity fields blank if they are not needed; confirm the details when the command asks you to do so.
Add the account to the sudo group
Debian and Ubuntu normally authorize administrative use through the sudo group. Add the account with either documented form:
sudo adduser username sudoor:
sudo usermod -aG sudo usernameThe -aG form appends the user to the supplementary group. The -a matters: using a group-modification command without append behavior can replace existing supplementary groups, which may remove access the account needs.
Membership alone is not a guarantee on every customized VPS. The host’s sudoers policy must grant the sudo group permission. The standard Debian policy does so, but an image can contain local changes. Later, use sudo -l from a fresh session to see the effective policy.
Create and authorize a user on RHEL, CentOS, or Fedora-family images
Create a login and home directory
RHEL-family images commonly use the system account tools shown here:
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sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash username
sudo passwd username-m creates the home directory and -s /bin/bash sets the login shell shown in the example. The image may provide a different preferred shell or account-management utility, so check the image’s existing conventions before changing those values.
Add the account to wheel
Add the new user to the administrative group:
sudo usermod -aG wheel usernameRed Hat documents that user and group authorizations for sudo are stored in /etc/sudoers and /etc/sudoers.d/. The wheel group is effective only when the image’s sudoers policy grants that group administrative rights. Check the policy rather than assuming every customized image has the rule enabled.
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On a standard RHEL-family configuration, adding the account to wheel is the normal path. If the account still cannot use sudo after a fresh login, inspect the active policy and any included drop-in files before making further changes.
Start a fresh login before testing group membership
Group information is attached to a login session. A shell that was already open when you ran usermod or adduser username sudo may not know about the new supplementary group. Log out of the new account if it is already connected, then open a new SSH connection. Do not rely on starting another shell inside the old session as a substitute for a new login.
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From the still-open administrator session, you can check the account record with:
id usernameAfter the new user logs in, run id without a name, or run id username from an administrator session. On Debian or Ubuntu, the output should include sudo. On RHEL-family systems, it should include wheel. If the group is absent, reconnect again and verify that you modified the intended account name.
Set up SSH public-key access
Password access may be allowed by the VPS image, but a named account with a public key gives you a separate, auditable login path. Ubuntu’s OpenSSH documentation describes placing the client’s public key in the target user’s ~/.ssh/authorized_keys file. Preserve any existing provider-supplied key until the replacement login has been tested.
Install a key from the administrator session
First make the key file available on the VPS. In this example, the administrator has placed the user’s public key at /tmp/username_ed25519.pub. Replace that path with the actual file and replace the placeholder account name:
sudo install -d -m 700 -o username -g username /home/username/.ssh
sudo install -m 600 -o username -g username /tmp/username_ed25519.pub /home/username/.ssh/authorized_keysThe first command creates .ssh with mode 700 and assigns it to the new user. The second installs the public key as authorized_keys with mode 600 and the same ownership. The file must contain the complete public key line, such as the contents of an id_ed25519.pub file, not the private key.
Connect in another terminal
Use a second terminal or connection window to log in as username with the corresponding private key. Keep the original administrator connection untouched while you test. If the provider image injects a cloud-init account or key, preserve that configuration until the new key and sudo path both work.
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After a failed key login, check the key text, the owner and mode of /home/username/.ssh and authorized_keys, and the permissions that allow the SSH daemon to traverse the home directory. Follow the SSH service log while retrying:
journalctl -fu ssh.serviceThe exact service name can vary by image, but Ubuntu documents the command above for following SSH logs.
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Once logged in through the new SSH session, inspect the account’s effective authorization:
sudo -lThis lists the commands the current user may run under the host’s sudoers policy. The result can be broader or narrower than full root access; read the listed rule rather than assuming group membership means unrestricted permission.
Validate sudo credentials without changing configuration by running:
sudo -vIf the policy permits it, this updates or checks the sudo timestamp and returns without executing a command. You can then run a harmless read-only command through sudo if needed. Do not use a destructive command merely to prove authorization.
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Use a per-user sudoers rule when group access is too broad
Administrative groups are convenient when every member should receive the same policy. For a single operator or a service account that needs only a few commands, create a dedicated sudoers drop-in instead of changing the main file.
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Edit a validated drop-in
Run:
sudo visudo -f /etc/sudoers.d/usernamevisudo checks the syntax before accepting the file. A full-access rule for one named account is:
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Limit commands precisely
A constrained rule must name the exact executable paths and commands required by the job. Do not replace the command list with a vague wildcard merely to make an automation task work; a broad pattern can turn a maintenance account into an unrestricted administrator. Confirm the command paths on the target image and test the resulting policy with sudo -l.
Why ordinary editors are unsafe here
Do not overwrite /etc/sudoers with a normal editor. A syntax error can prevent sudo from authorizing every account, including the one you are using for recovery. The validated visudo -f workflow and a separate file under /etc/sudoers.d/ reduce the blast radius. Leave the original privileged session open until the new rule has been read by sudo successfully.
Troubleshoot the common failures
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to check |
|---|---|---|
user is not in the sudoers file |
The account is not in the expected group, the sudoers policy does not authorize that group, or the login predates the group change. | From the administrator session run id username; reconnect the new user; inspect /etc/sudoers and included files; then run sudo -l again. |
The expected group is missing from id |
The wrong username was modified, the append operation was not completed, or the shell is an old session. | Repeat the distribution-appropriate group command, use id username, and establish a completely new SSH login. |
sudo: command not found |
The image does not have the sudo package installed or the command is not on the account’s path. | Use the provider console or the existing root session to install the distribution’s sudo package, then reconnect and test. Package names and repositories vary by distribution. |
Permission denied (publickey) |
The public key is wrong or incomplete, ownership and modes are incorrect, or SSH cannot traverse the home directory. | Compare the installed public key with the client key, verify the .ssh and authorized_keys owner and modes, check home-directory traversal permissions, and watch journalctl -fu ssh.service while retrying. |
| The new account can log in but cannot run the required command | The effective sudoers rule is intentionally narrower than the task, or the command path differs from the rule. | Read sudo -l, identify the exact permitted paths, and adjust a validated drop-in only if the job’s scope justifies it. |
| All sudo access was lost after an edit | A syntax error or invalid include broke the policy. | Use the still-open root or provider-console session to restore the last valid configuration. Make subsequent edits with visudo and keep a tested recovery connection. |
Choose the authorization method that matches the job
| Method | Scope | Distribution fit | Change safety |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative group | All commands granted by the group’s sudoers rule | sudo on Debian/Ubuntu; wheel on RHEL-family systems |
Simple and conventional, but check the image’s actual group rule |
| Named sudoers drop-in | One account, with full or command-limited access | Works when the host’s sudo package and policy support it | Use visudo -f to validate a separate file |
| Password login | Authentication is controlled by the image’s SSH policy | Available only if enabled and permitted by the provider image | Test before changing password-authentication settings |
| Public-key login | Authentication uses the matching private key | OpenSSH arrangement with authorized_keys |
Preserve an existing working key until the replacement is proven |
The right choice depends on both scope and login assurance. A general administrator may fit the standard group, while a deployment or monitoring account should usually receive only the commands it needs. Authentication choice and sudo authorization are separate: a valid SSH key does not grant sudo by itself, and group membership does not fix a broken SSH key.
Operational prerequisites and pitfalls
You need one of three recovery-capable starting points: an existing root SSH session, an administrator account that already has sudo, or the VPS provider’s out-of-band console. If sudo is absent, the provider console or root session is the way to install the distribution’s sudo package; package names and repositories vary by image. Do not attempt to repair a locked-out server by closing the only session that still works.
Choose the account name before creating files or policies. The name appears in the home-directory path, the SSH key ownership commands, and any named sudoers rule. A typo can create a second account while leaving the intended account unconfigured. Verify with id username and inspect the home directory before handing over credentials.
Keep provider-created accounts, cloud-init settings, and existing authorized keys intact during the transition. They may be the only way back into an image if a new key is malformed or a sudoers include is rejected. Remove obsolete access only after the new account has logged in from a second terminal and completed the required sudo test.
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Remember that authentication and authorization are separate controls. Password or public-key authentication decides whether SSH accepts the login; group membership or a sudoers rule decides which privileged commands that logged-in user may run. Changing one does not repair a failure in the other.
Cost and tooling
This procedure does not require a paid product. It uses the account-management utilities, OpenSSH, sudo, and configuration files supplied by the Linux distribution and VPS image. The only infrastructure requirement is continued access to the server through SSH or the provider console while you test. Any security policy for keys, passwords, root login, or command scope remains specific to the image and your operating requirements.
Final handoff checklist
- The distribution was confirmed with
cat /etc/os-release. - The current root or administrator session is still open.
- The named account has the intended home directory and login shell.
- Debian/Ubuntu accounts show
sudo, or RHEL-family accounts showwheel, after a fresh login. - The SSH public key, if used, is in
/home/username/.ssh/authorized_keyswith user ownership, directory mode700, and key-file mode600. - A second terminal can log in as the new account.
sudo -ldisplays the intended effective policy.sudo -vsucceeds without a configuration change.- Any custom sudoers file was created with
visudo, not an ordinary editor. - The original administrator access and at least one known-good recovery path remain available until all SSH hardening changes are verified.
A named account, distribution-appropriate administrative group, validated sudoers policy, and a tested second SSH connection provide a safer handoff than routine direct-root use. The exact permissions remain whatever the VPS image’s sudoers and SSH configuration authorize, so always verify the effective result rather than relying only on the command that created the account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the new user still get “not in the sudoers file”?
Confirm that the account is in the expected group with id username: Debian and Ubuntu normally show sudo, while RHEL-family systems normally show wheel. Then inspect /etc/sudoers and files under /etc/sudoers.d/ to ensure that group is authorized. Finally, open a completely new SSH login; an existing shell may not have refreshed supplementary groups.
Is the sudo group the same as wheel?
They are distribution conventions, not interchangeable names. Debian and Ubuntu normally use sudo; RHEL, CentOS, and Fedora-family images normally use wheel. The group works only when the image’s sudoers policy grants it administrative rights, so verify the effective policy with sudo -l.
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Can I add a user to sudo without giving full root access?
Yes. Use a per-user drop-in created with sudo visudo -f /etc/sudoers.d/username and list only the exact executable paths and arguments required. A rule such as username ALL=(ALL) ALL is full access; a constrained rule should avoid broad wildcards and must be tested with sudo -l.
Do I have to configure an SSH key?
No. Whether password login is available depends on the VPS image’s SSH policy. A public key gives the named account a separate, auditable login path, but it does not grant sudo by itself. If you install one, preserve existing provider keys and test the new key from another terminal before removing anything.
What permissions should the SSH key files have?
Install the user’s .ssh directory with mode 700 and authorized_keys with mode 600, owned by the new user. Also ensure SSH can traverse the home directory. If authentication fails, compare the complete public-key line and follow the service log with journalctl -fu ssh.service while retrying.
What should I do if sudo is not installed?
Keep the root or administrator session open and use it, or use the VPS provider console, to install the distribution’s sudo package. Package names and repositories differ by distribution. Reconnect as the new user afterward and run sudo -l and sudo -v.
When is it safe to disable root SSH login or password authentication?
Only after a second SSH connection as the named user succeeds, the intended key or password method works, group membership appears after a fresh login, and sudo -l shows the required policy. Keep the original administrator session and another recovery path available while applying and testing any SSH hardening change.
The Bottom Line
Keep a recovery session open, use sudo on Debian/Ubuntu or wheel on RHEL-family systems, refresh the login before testing, and validate access with sudo -l. Install SSH keys with correct ownership and modes, edit custom policy only through visudo, and harden root or password login only after the new path works.
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