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Linux IntroductionChapter 4. User, Group and Permission

Superuser (Root User) vs. Normal User

Superuser (Root User) vs. Normal User

Superuser vs. Normal User in Linux

In Linux, there are two types of users – a superuser and a normal user. The superuser is a special user account used for system administration. The superuser has permissions for all Linux system resources while normal users have limited access to Linux system resources depending on the permission setting for each file and directory.

Superuser

A superuser is a special user account used for system administration. It is also called root. As the default setting, the superuser is the owner of all system files and directories under the / (root) directory and has all permissions (read, write, and execute) for all system resources.

Normal users

Normal users are all users who are not the superuser. You can create multiple normal users. Typically, each user has their own home directory under the directory path of "/home". Normal users have limited access to directories and files beyond their own home directory. For example, although normal users can read several directories and files under the root directory, they cannot overwrite those directories and files. For some directories such as root (root user's home directory) and lost + found, normal users cannot even view directories and files underneath.

You can check by running the following command.

Command Line - INPUT
ls /lost+found
Command Line - RESPONSE
ls: cannot open directory '/lost+found': Permission denied

Practice

To see the difference between the superuser (root) and the normal user, let's check them on Linux OS.

1. Check the root directory

Go to the / (root) directory and execute the ls -l command.

Command Line - INPUT
cd /
ls -l

You'll see that the owner user and owner group are root (superuser).

Command Line - RESPONSE
total 64
lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root     7 Jul 16  2020 bin -> usr/bin
drwxr-xr-x   3 root root  4096 Dec 22 06:38 boot
drwxr-xr-x  15 root root  3180 Dec 21 12:53 dev
drwxr-xr-x  95 root root  4096 Dec 23 16:40 etc
drwxr-xr-x   3 root root  4096 Dec 21 09:22 home
lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root     7 Jul 16  2020 lib -> usr/lib
lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root     9 Jul 16  2020 lib32 -> usr/lib32
lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root     9 Jul 16  2020 lib64 -> usr/lib64
lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root    10 Jul 16  2020 libx32 -> usr/libx32
drwx------   2 root root 16384 Jul 16  2020 lost+found
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root  4096 Jul 16  2020 media
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root  4096 Jul 16  2020 mnt
drwxr-xr-x   3 root root  4096 Dec 22 01:52 opt
dr-xr-xr-x 142 root root     0 Dec 21 09:22 proc
drwx------   4 root root  4096 Dec 21 09:23 root
drwxr-xr-x  26 root root  1020 Dec 25 06:55 run
lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root     8 Jul 16  2020 sbin -> usr/sbin
drwxr-xr-x   8 root root  4096 Dec 21 12:52 snap
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root  4096 Jul 16  2020 srv
dr-xr-xr-x  13 root root     0 Dec 21 09:22 sys
drwxrwxrwt  12 root root  4096 Dec 25 06:54 tmp
drwxr-xr-x  14 root root  4096 Jul 16  2020 usr
drwxr-xr-x  13 root root  4096 Jul 16  2020 var

2. Check home directory

Go to the /home directory and execute the ls -l command.

Command Line - INPUT
cd /home
ls -l

You'll see that the owner user and owner group are ubuntu (normal user).

Command Line - RESPONSE
total 4
drwxr-xr-x 5 ubuntu ubuntu 4096 Dec 22 13:24 ubuntu

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Tags:

Superuser

Normal User

Linux Introduction
Course Content

Chapter 1. Linux Basics

What Is OS?

CUI and GUI

Linux Distributions

Package Manager

Kernel and Shell

Current Working Directory

Linux Directory Structure

Absolute Path and Relative Path (Linux OS)

Linux Command Syntax

Special Characters and Escape Character

Chapter 2. Linux Key Commands

Setting Up Linux Environment on AWS

pwd (Print Working Directory)

cd (Change Directory)

ls (List Contents of Directory)

mkdir (Make Directory)

rmdir (Remove Directory)

touch (Create File)

rm (Remove File)

mv (Move File and Directory)

cp (Copy File and Directory)

cat (Display File Content)

sort (Sort File Contents)

grep (Global Regular Expression Print)

Regular Expression

find (Find File and Directory)

Wildcard

ln (Create Link to File and Directory)

Chapter 3. Vim Editor

What Is Vim and How to Launch It?

Normal, Insert and Visual Mode

Normal Mode (1) – Move Cursor

Normal Mode (2) – Delete

Normal Mode (3) – Copy and Paste

Normal Mode (4) – Undo and Redo

Normal Mode (5) – Search Phrase

Normal Mode (6) – Replace Phrase

Normal Mode (7) – Save and Exit

Insert Mode

Visual Mode

Chapter 4. User, Group and Permission

What Are User, Group And Permission in Linux?

Permission (Access Mode) by Owner Status

Superuser (Root User) vs. Normal User

sudo (Run Command with Superuser Privileges)

su (Switch User)

useradd (Add User)

passwd (Set Password)

userdel (Delete User)

Group – Primary Group and Secondary Group

groupadd (Add Group)

usermod (Modify User Account Information)

gpasswd (Add and Delete Users to Group)

groupdel (Delete Group)

chown (Change Owner of File and Directory)

chgrp (Change Group of File and Directory)

chmod (Change Access Mode)

chmod Command with Numbers

w and who (Check Current User Login Status)

id and groups (Check User ID and Group)

getent (Display User and Group Data)

Chapter 5. Redirection, Pipe and Shell Script

Standard Input Output and Redirection

Pipe (Combine Commands)

less (Display Content with Pager)

tr (Replace Characters)

cut (Extract Data Sections)

uniq (Extract Unique Data Lines)

Shell Script

echo (Echo input)

read (Read and Store Input)

Shell Variable and Environmental Variable

source (Execute Shell Script and Refresh Environmental Variables)

Chapter 6. Linux Commands for Command Management

history (Check Command History)

alias (Create Command Shortcuts)

man (Display Manual)

type, which and whereis (Display Command Information)

Package Manager Command

tree (Display Directory Tree)

Chapter 7. SSH Remote Connection

SSH (Secure Shell)

Locate .ssh Directory

SSH Remote Login (1) – Use Key Pair Generated by Server

SSH Remote Login (2) – Use Key Pair Generated by Client

SSH Config File

SSH Remote Login with Visual Studio Code

SCP (Secure Copy Protocol)

SCP with SSH Config File

SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol)

Other File Transfer Commands

Chapter 8. Linux Process Management

Process and Job

Foreground and Background Jobs

jobs and ps (Display Jobs and Processes)

Signals

Create, Stop and Terminate Jobs

Daemon Processes

What Is Service on Linux?

Systemd

Unit File

Systemctl Sub-Commands

Create Custom Unit and Start at Boot

Firewall

UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall)

Web Server

Launch Apache Web Server

Chapter 1. Linux Basics

What Is OS?

CUI and GUI

Linux Distributions

Package Manager

Kernel and Shell

Current Working Directory

Linux Directory Structure

Absolute Path and Relative Path (Linux OS)

Linux Command Syntax

Special Characters and Escape Character

Chapter 2. Linux Key Commands

Setting Up Linux Environment on AWS

pwd (Print Working Directory)

cd (Change Directory)

ls (List Contents of Directory)

mkdir (Make Directory)

rmdir (Remove Directory)

touch (Create File)

rm (Remove File)

mv (Move File and Directory)

cp (Copy File and Directory)

cat (Display File Content)

sort (Sort File Contents)

grep (Global Regular Expression Print)

Regular Expression

find (Find File and Directory)

Wildcard

ln (Create Link to File and Directory)

Chapter 3. Vim Editor

What Is Vim and How to Launch It?

Normal, Insert and Visual Mode

Normal Mode (1) – Move Cursor

Normal Mode (2) – Delete

Normal Mode (3) – Copy and Paste

Normal Mode (4) – Undo and Redo

Normal Mode (5) – Search Phrase

Normal Mode (6) – Replace Phrase

Normal Mode (7) – Save and Exit

Insert Mode

Visual Mode

Chapter 4. User, Group and Permission

What Are User, Group And Permission in Linux?

Permission (Access Mode) by Owner Status

Superuser (Root User) vs. Normal User

sudo (Run Command with Superuser Privileges)

su (Switch User)

useradd (Add User)

passwd (Set Password)

userdel (Delete User)

Group – Primary Group and Secondary Group

groupadd (Add Group)

usermod (Modify User Account Information)

gpasswd (Add and Delete Users to Group)

groupdel (Delete Group)

chown (Change Owner of File and Directory)

chgrp (Change Group of File and Directory)

chmod (Change Access Mode)

chmod Command with Numbers

w and who (Check Current User Login Status)

id and groups (Check User ID and Group)

getent (Display User and Group Data)

Chapter 5. Redirection, Pipe and Shell Script

Standard Input Output and Redirection

Pipe (Combine Commands)

less (Display Content with Pager)

tr (Replace Characters)

cut (Extract Data Sections)

uniq (Extract Unique Data Lines)

Shell Script

echo (Echo input)

read (Read and Store Input)

Shell Variable and Environmental Variable

source (Execute Shell Script and Refresh Environmental Variables)

Chapter 6. Linux Commands for Command Management

history (Check Command History)

alias (Create Command Shortcuts)

man (Display Manual)

type, which and whereis (Display Command Information)

Package Manager Command

tree (Display Directory Tree)

Chapter 7. SSH Remote Connection

SSH (Secure Shell)

Locate .ssh Directory

SSH Remote Login (1) – Use Key Pair Generated by Server

SSH Remote Login (2) – Use Key Pair Generated by Client

SSH Config File

SSH Remote Login with Visual Studio Code

SCP (Secure Copy Protocol)

SCP with SSH Config File

SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol)

Other File Transfer Commands

Chapter 8. Linux Process Management

Process and Job

Foreground and Background Jobs

jobs and ps (Display Jobs and Processes)

Signals

Create, Stop and Terminate Jobs

Daemon Processes

What Is Service on Linux?

Systemd

Unit File

Systemctl Sub-Commands

Create Custom Unit and Start at Boot

Firewall

UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall)

Web Server

Launch Apache Web Server