apt-get confussion

[Matthew1974]

My Linux machine has two users root and matthew, I keep the passwords written in a text file so that I know I'm not making a spelling mistake (maybe a security issue, but that's not related to my question).

I was logged in as matthew and I wanted to install nano, so I typed.
sudo apt-get install nano

This didn't work. I tried it several times double checking that all the passwords were correct and being confused.

I logged in as root and typed.
apt-get install nano

This worked first time, I've even openned nano as root as well as openning nano whilst being logged in as matthew, so nano is most definitely installed.

Can anyone explain why the installation didn't work for the log in matthew using sudo?

 

[arochester]

Is Mathew included in the sudoers list?

https://www.pendrivelinux.com/how-to-add-a-user-to-the-sudoers-list/

 

[Matthew1974]

Is Mathew included in the sudoers list?

https://www.pendrivelinux.com/how-to-add-a-user-to-the-sudoers-list/

But if I give the profile matthew root privileges then what is the point of the sudo command?

I thought that the command sudo was so that someone without root privileges could do still that is limited to root.

Would giving the profile matthew root privileges create any security issues I should think about?

 

[arochester]

https://www.howtoforge.com/tutorial/sudo-beginners-guide/ ?

 

[Rob]

@Matthew1974 - welcome to the forum!

sudo can get very granular, for instance you can add a user to sudoers and allow him to do anything, or limit them to just one (or a few commands).

Video: Add user to sudo using the visudo command

You'll come across a time that you'll need to add a user to the sudoers file. This is done by using the visudo command as root. I created this video about a year ago - hopefully it will help someone out there.

www.linux.org

Here's a short video that may help you out..

 

[Matthew1974]

@Rob and @arochester thank you both.

 

[darrylwilliams]

Basic Linux commands with the example, below link will help you for your confusion.
https://www.puttygen.com/linux-commands

 

[TechnoJunky]

Everyone should not be able to run sudo, only people who you want to have root privileges. You should never log in as root, unless absolutely necessary as you can make mistakes that screw the system up totally. So put matthew in the sudoers file and when you need to install something sudo will work.