Creating an administrative user and becoming root with the switch user command

In this recipe we will learn how to create an administrative user and provide them with access to the su or switch user command that enables them to change the ownership of a login session in order to become root or any other user.

An experienced user will always tell you that routinely managing a server as the root user is not the best way to work. It might be convenient, but by doing this you are leaving yourself open to a whole host of issues that can give rise to a multitude of errors and unwanted side effects. Best practices will always tell you that the use of the root user account should be left until it is required, and with this in mind it is the purpose of this recipe to show you how to configure a day-to-day administrative user whose ability to assume the power of root and any other user is just a few strokes of the keyboard away.

Getting ready

To complete this recipe you will need a working installation...