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Superuser Access

As we’ll be installing software and configuring services, it’s a must to have superuser access to the host system. Try which one ever of the following options fits you the most, to verify root access:

  1. I used root user to login to this host
    Verify being root user
    whoami

    If it returns root then you have root access.

  2. My regular user has superuser privileges
    Verify being superuser
    sudo -i
    # you will be prompted to enter your password

    If it succeeds then you’ve superuser access.

  3. I know the root password, but my regular user isn’t a superuser
    Verify having root credentials
    su
    # you will be prompted to enter root password

    If it succeeds then you’ve root access. While it’s possible to run the setup as root, it’s generally not recommended.

    Add normal user to superuser group
    # replace `<username>` with actual username
    adduser <username> sudo
    # this is for Debian/Ubuntu based systems

    Once you login with that user the next time, you can use sudo to run commands with superuser privileges. Please verify it’s working before proceeding to the next steps.

Once you’ve verified having superuser access, press Ctrl+D to exit root shell to become regular (albeit sudoer) user or type exit in the terminal and press Enter to the same effect.