Configuring User Accounts and Permissions on a Development Server

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Configuring User Accounts and Permissions on a Development Server

In this hands-on lab, you will connect to a Red Hat 8 system using SSH. Once connected, you will use the `useradd` command to add several users, set passwords using the `passwd` command, use the `groupadd` command to add a couple of groups, and use either the `usermod` or `gpasswd` commands to add users to groups. Once the groups are in place, you will grant elevated privileges to a set of users using the new groups and test the permissions by using the `su -` command to switch to a user and attempt to run the commands. *This course is not approved or sponsored by Red Hat.*

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Lab Info

Level

Beginner

Last updated

Oct 29, 2025

Duration

30m

Challenge

Add 5 Users to the System
- Add the following user accounts to the system. Set the comment option to the user's full name.
  
  Peter Gibbons (pgibbons)
  
  Michael Bolton (mbolton)
  
  Samir Nagheenanajar (snagheenanajar)
  
  Milton Waddams (mwaddams)
  
  Tom Smykowski (tsmykowski)
- Use the passwd command to set to the default password of initech123 for all users.
Challenge

Add 2 Groups to the System
- Use the groupadd command to add the following groups.
  
  devadmins
  
  helpdesk
Challenge

Add Users to the New Groups
- Use either the usermod or gpasswd command to add the following user accounts to the devadmins group.
  
  Peter Gibbons
  
  Michael Bolton
  
  Samir Nagheenanajar
- Use either the usermod or gpasswd command to add the following user accounts to the helpdesk group.
  
  Milton Waddams
  
  Tom Smykowski
Challenge

Grant Superuser Privileges Using the New Groups
- Use the visudo command to create a new file in the /etc/sudoers.d directory and call the file 20-groups.
- Add the following group configurations into the file
  
  The devadmins group should be able to connect from any host, act as the root user and be able to run any command.
  
  The helpdesk group should be able to connect from any host, act as the root user and only run the ls and cat commands.
Challenge

Validate Superuser Access for Two of the Accounts, One from Each Group
- Use the su - command to switch to one of the users from the devadmins group and attempt to run the following commands with elevated (sudo) privileges.
  
  List the contents of the root user's home directory
  
  Use the cat command to view the /etc/sudoers file
  
  Use the less command to view the /etc/sudoers file.
  
  Exit the previous user and return to your account
- Use the su - command to switch to one of the users from the helpdesk group and attempt to run the following commands with elevated (sudo) privileges.
  
  List the contents of the root user's home directory
  
  Use the cat command to view the /etc/sudoers file
  
  Use the less command to view the /etc/sudoers file.

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