What is the sudo command in Ubuntu?
William Taylor
Updated on June 17, 2026
The sudo command allows you to run programs with the security privileges of another user (by default, as the superuser). It prompts you for your personal password and confirms your request to execute a command by checking a file, called sudoers , which the system administrator configures. Lawrence’s Using sudo page.
How do I run a sudo command in Ubuntu?
Basic Sudo Usage
- Open a terminal window, and try the following command: apt-get update.
- You should see an error message. You do not have the necessary permissions to run the command.
- Try the same command with sudo : sudo apt-get update.
- Type your password when prompted.
Where is sudo command in Ubuntu?
Steps to Create a New Sudo User
- Log in to your server as the root user. ssh [email protected]_ip_address.
- Use the adduser command to add a new user to your system. Be sure to replace username with the user that you want to create.
- Use the usermod command to add the user to the sudo group.
- Test sudo access on new user account.
How do I get into sudo mode?
To get root access, you can use one of a variety of methods:
- Run sudo and type in your login password, if prompted, to run only that instance of the command as root.
- Run sudo -i .
- Use the su (substitute user) command to get a root shell.
- Run sudo -s .
How do I run as sudo?
To see the commands that are available for you to run with sudo, use sudo -l . To run a command as the root user, use sudo command ….Using sudo.
| Commands | Meaning |
|---|---|
| sudo command | Run command as root. |
| sudo -u root command | Run command as root. |
| sudo -u user command | Run command as user. |
How do I give sudo access to a specific command?
To use this tool, you need to issue the command sudo -s and then enter your sudo password. Now enter the command visudo and the tool will open the /etc/sudoers file for editing). Save and close the file and have the user log out and log back in. They should now have a full range of sudo privileges.
How do I list sudo commands for a user?
Method 1: Using sudo -l or –list. As per the man page, sudo can be used with -l or –list to get the list of allowed and forbidden commands for any particular user. If the user deepak does not has sudo privilege, you will end up with a password prompt.
