The passwd command is used by root to set or reset a password for any user. A user can use the passwd command themselves to reset their own password. It is also used to set the initial password for a user after creating the account with the useradd command. Note: The screen will not show […]
What is the purpose of “wheel” group in Linux
The root system account is used for a great deal more than just administrative tasks. Many parts of the actual Linux operating system run under root credentials. Many distributions disable the actual root account for users and instead allow administrative functions based on membership in the wheel group. Members of the wheel group exercise the […]
visudo: command not found
While the /etc/sudoers file is a normal text file, it is essential not to directly edit it with a standard text editor like Vim or nano. The /etc/sudoers file controls access to all elevated privileges and a mistake in this file can render it impossible to gain root privileges on the server. Most distributions will […]
sudoedit: command not found
Some Linux files require root user privileges to edit. This could be accomplished with a sudo configuration, but a simpler and more secure option is to use the sudoedit command. This command permits users to edit a file with their credentials, even if the file is only available to the root user. In addition, the […]
sudo: command not found
With the su command, any user who knows the root password can “get root” and do anything the root user can do. An account using “su – root” essentially is the server administrator. This is often much more power than should be delegated to users. A better practice is to delegate specific functions to users […]
su: command not found
As you have seen, it is a poor practice to log on to the server directly with root privileges. The better practice is to log on with a standard user account, then elevate your privileges to root as needed. One way of elevating privileges is to “substitute user” using the su command. The su command, […]
ntpdate: command not found
ntpdate is used to set the time of the local system to match a remote NTP host. The maintainers of the ntp code intend to drop ntpdate in the future since ntpd can perform essentially the same function when used with the -q option. The ntpdate command sets the current system time by contacting a […]
arpspoof: command not found
ARPspoof is used to send fake ARP messages to a victim’s machine, tricking it into sending its traffic to the attacker’s machine or another gateway on the network. The following is the syntax used in the arpspoof tool: # arpspoof –i [interface] -c [host ip] -t [target ip] [host ip] -r -i: Allows you to […]
locale-gen: command not found
Internationalization and localization are two concepts that allow a computer to store information one way but display it in a way that suits the conventions of the user. Internationalization allows a system to display information in different ways, and localization is a process that bundles up all the regional changes for a single location into […]
man: command not found
Linux manual pages, or man pages, contain the complete documentation that is specific to each Linux command. The man pages are available on Linux systems by default. The man page for a specific command is displayed using the man command. They usually include information such as the command’s name, its syntax, a description of its […]