How To Add AD Domain Group to Sudoers File in Ubuntu 18.04

In this tutorial, we will walk you through the process of adding an Active Directory (AD) domain group to the sudoers file in Ubuntu 18.04. This can be extremely useful in managing user permissions across your organization, especially if you have a large number of users or if you want to streamline your administrative tasks.

Understanding the Sudoers File

The sudoers file, located at /etc/sudoers, is a critical configuration file in Linux systems. It defines which users or groups can run which commands as the root user. By adding an AD domain group to this file, you can give its members the ability to execute commands with root privileges.

Preparing to Edit the Sudoers File

Before you begin, it’s essential to note that you should always use the visudo command to edit the sudoers file. This command opens the file in a text editor and checks for syntax errors when you save and exit. This is crucial because an incorrectly formatted sudoers file can cause severe system issues.

To open the sudoers file, use the following command:

sudo visudo

Adding the AD Domain Group to the Sudoers File

Once you have the sudoers file open, you can add your AD domain group. The format of the line you add depends on whether your group name contains spaces or special characters.

If the Group Name Contains No Spaces or Special Characters

If the group name is a single word, you can add a line in the following format:

%ActiveDirectoryUserGroup ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

In this line, replace “ActiveDirectoryUserGroup” with the actual name of your AD group. The ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL part of the line specifies that members of the group can run any command as any user or group on any host.

If the Group Name Contains Spaces or Special Characters

If the group name includes spaces or special characters, you need to escape them using a backslash (\). Here’s how you can add such a group:

%Domain\ Users ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

In this example, replace “Domain\ Users” with the actual name of your AD group.

Saving Changes and Exiting

After adding the necessary lines to the sudoers file, save your changes and exit the text editor. If you’re using the default editor for visudo, which is nano, you can save changes by pressing Ctrl+O and exit by pressing Ctrl+X.

Conclusion

By following these steps, you should now have successfully added your AD domain group to the sudoers file in Ubuntu 18.04. This will help streamline your administrative tasks and improve the security of your system by limiting the number of users with sudo access.

Remember to be cautious when editing the sudoers file, as incorrect changes can lead to system instability or security vulnerabilities. Always make a backup of the sudoers file before making any modifications, and use the visudo command to ensure syntax correctness.

For more information on managing user permissions in Linux, you can visit the Ubuntu documentation.