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The wheel group is a special user group used on some Unix systems, mostly BSD systems, [citation needed] to control access to the su [4] [5] or sudo command, which allows a user to masquerade as another user (usually the super user). [1] [2] [6] Debian and its derivatives create a group called sudo with purpose similar to that of a wheel group. [7]
sudo (/ s uː d uː / [4]) is a program for Unix-like computer operating systems that enables users to run programs with the security privileges of another user, by default the superuser. [5] It originally stood for "superuser do", [ 6 ] as that was all it did, and this remains its most common usage; [ 7 ] however, the official Sudo project ...
A privilege is applied for by either an executed program issuing a request for advanced privileges, or by running some program to apply for the additional privileges. An example of a user applying for additional privileges is provided by the sudo command to run a command as superuser user, or by the Kerberos authentication system.
Sudo command on Ubuntu to temporarily assume root privileges. Most Unix and Unix-like systems have an account or group which enables a user to exact complete control over the system, often known as a root account. If access to this account is gained by an unwanted user, this results in a complete breach of the system.
In some cases, the actual name of the account is not the determining factor; on Unix-like systems, for example, the user with a user identifier (UID) of zero is the superuser [i.e., uid=0], regardless of the name of that account; [1] and in systems which implement a role-based security model, any user with the role of superuser (or its synonyms ...
Rather, the user is asked for their password once at the start. If the user has not used their administrative privileges for a certain period of time (sudo's default is 5 minutes [6]), the user is once again restricted to standard user privileges until they enter their password again. sudo's approach is a trade-off between security and usability.
People call it "super user" because you generally use the "su" command to obtain root privileges. However the "su" command is literally used to substitute users, and it doesn't have to be root. Commonly developers "su" to application accounts and so forth. Sudo is a play on the "su" command by appending the verb "do." Seeing that sudo allows ...
It is also possible to use polkit to execute commands with elevated privileges using the command pkexec followed by the command intended to be executed (with root permission). [9] However, it may be preferable to use sudo , as this command provides more flexibility and security, in addition to being easier to configure.