<USER> is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.

[Azuruez]

Stupid mistake.... I have been using Ubuntu 11.04 X86 for about 4 days now after moving on from Mint and I got very irritated when the machine kept asking me for my password. So I then searched the net for a code that would disable this feature...

The code I found was:

sudo visudo

Then find the line that says:

%admin ALL=(ALL) ALL

And replace it with:

%admin ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

Now every time i try to access a 'sudo' code this is displayed:

ethan@Ethanje:~$ sudo ./genie_compiz
[sudo] password for ethan: 
ethan is not in the sudoers file.  This incident will be reported.

There are no other users on my machine but me. What I want to know is, is there any way to fix this, or will I have to re-install Ubuntu and start ALL over again?

[whatthefunk]

Can you re-edit the sudoers file with visudo or do you get the same error message there too?

[Azuruez]

Yeah, I get the same error

[mendhak]

Have you given your root user a password? If you already have, then you can go

su

And that should ask you for your root password. You can then use that to edit the sudoers file. You could also try adding your user to the admin group via root.

[WorMzy]

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/fixsudo

[Topsiho]

I hope you realize why Ubuntu has this "irritating" sudo feature?

The idea is that you are only root for executing one command that needs the rights of a super user. And after that you are an ordinary user again. This prevents you to be su all the time, and forget that you are, and enables you to destruct your system (un)voluntarily.

To prevent too much irritation however, if you give commands needing su rights, when you sudo again within a certain number of minutes (15?), you need not give your password again.

The sudo feature, when you get used to it, is the main strong point of Ubuntu. It also makes that if you are the only user of the system, you only need one password, not that of yours as a normal user, ánd that for the root.

Topsiho

[Serpher]

Have you given your root user a password? If you already have, then you can go

su

And that should ask you for your root password. You can then use that to edit the sudoers file. You could also try adding your user to the admin group via root.

Do not do what this user is suggesting. In Ubuntu the root account is disabled for security reasons, and is not meant to be activated. Sudo does not require you to use an actual root password for anything.

[bodhi.zazen]

post the output of

id ethan

[mendhak]

(double post)

[mendhak]

Do not do what this user is suggesting. In Ubuntu the root account is disabled for security reasons, and is not meant to be activated. Sudo does not require you to use an actual root password for anything.

I was suggesting it in order to rescue the sudoers file, which he can't get to with a normal sudo.