{"id":1528,"date":"2024-02-02T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-02T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/?p=1528"},"modified":"2024-02-02T03:18:04","modified_gmt":"2024-02-02T02:18:04","slug":"add-new-user-kali-linux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/add-new-user-kali-linux\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Add a New User in Kali Linux (GUI &amp; Command Line)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Oddly enough, Kali Linux is a security-oriented distribution, but it comes with a default login and password. You will need to harden it a bit after the initial installation. You can always <a href=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/change-username-password-kali-linux\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"1469\">change the password<\/a> or even set a different user name. But it&#8217;s also possible to create a new one. Here is how to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>On Kali Linux, the easiest way to create a new user is to use the system settings panel. It&#8217;s also possible to do the same using Linux commands from a terminal (locally or remotely).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this tutorial, I&#8217;ll discuss these two options, starting with the simplest one (via the GUI) and then give you the commands lines to do the same from a Linux prompt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_65 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/add-new-user-kali-linux\/#How_to_add_user_on_Kali_Linux_via_the_GUI\" title=\"How to add user on Kali Linux via the GUI\">How to add user on Kali Linux via the GUI<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/add-new-user-kali-linux\/#How_to_add_user_on_Kali_with_Linux_commands\" title=\"How to add user on Kali with Linux commands\">How to add user on Kali with Linux commands<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/add-new-user-kali-linux\/#Related_questions\" title=\"Related questions\">Related questions<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/add-new-user-kali-linux\/#How_to_add_%E2%80%9Csudo%E2%80%9D_permission_to_a_new_user\" title=\"How to add &#8220;sudo&#8221; permission to a new user?\">How to add &#8220;sudo&#8221; permission to a new user?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/add-new-user-kali-linux\/#How_to_add_a_new_user_to_a_specific_group\" title=\"How to add a new user to a specific group?\">How to add a new user to a specific group?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_add_user_on_Kali_Linux_via_the_GUI\"><\/span>How to add user on Kali Linux via the GUI<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have access to the desktop environment, Kali Linux includes a tool to manage users easily from the system settings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is how to create a new user from the graphical interface:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>In the main menu, click on &#8220;Settings&#8221; > &#8220;Settings Manager&#8221;<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Find the &#8220;Users and Groups&#8221; item<\/strong> in the settings:<br><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1072\" height=\"498\" class=\"wp-image-1529\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-users-and-groups.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-users-and-groups.jpg 1072w, https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-users-and-groups-300x139.jpg 300w, https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-users-and-groups-1024x476.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-users-and-groups-768x357.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1072px) 100vw, 1072px\" \/><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>By clicking on it, you&#8217;ll see your current users (probably only the main user).<br>But there, you can <strong>click on &#8220;Add&#8221; to create a new user<\/strong>:<br><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"999\" height=\"583\" class=\"wp-image-1530\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-add-user.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-add-user.jpg 999w, https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-add-user-300x175.jpg 300w, https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-add-user-768x448.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 999px) 100vw, 999px\" \/>You may need to enter your password to access this screen.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fill the form with the new user name and username, and click on &#8220;OK&#8221;.<\/strong><br>On the next screen, you can set the initial password for the new user (or generate a random one):<br><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"542\" height=\"478\" class=\"wp-image-1531\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-password.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-password.jpg 542w, https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-password-300x265.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 542px) 100vw, 542px\" \/><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Click &#8220;OK&#8221; again and the new user will be created.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You can log out from your current account and try the new one right away if you want, it should work directly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can even delete the main account after that if that was the goal (using the same settings menu), but before doing that, make sure the new user has all the permissions you need, and that you copied the personnel files (from your home directory to the new user directory).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, with the default settings, the new user can&#8217;t use sudo, so you&#8217;ll quickly get stuck. I&#8217;d recommend keeping both users for a while, using only the new one, to make sure you don&#8217;t forget anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_add_user_on_Kali_with_Linux_commands\"><\/span>How to add user on Kali with Linux commands<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Creating a user in command lines on Kali Linux is not that complicated, you basically need only one command to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is how to create a new user on Kali Linux from a terminal:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Open a terminal<\/strong> or an SSH connection.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Type the following command:<\/strong><br><code>sudo adduser &lt;new-username><br><\/code>Replace the variable with the user you want to create, for example:<br><code>sudo adduser infosecscout<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The wizard will ask a few questions to customize the user.<br><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"875\" height=\"546\" class=\"wp-image-1534\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-adduser.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-adduser.jpg 875w, https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-adduser-300x187.jpg 300w, https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-adduser-768x479.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 875px) 100vw, 875px\" \/>Except for the passwords, you can keep the default values for most of them (just press ENTER).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s all you need to know for a basic user with no additional permissions. After doing this, you can log in right away:<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"551\" height=\"226\" src=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-login-new-user.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1535\" srcset=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-login-new-user.jpg 551w, https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-login-new-user-300x123.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 551px) 100vw, 551px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>Now, as for the user creation from the GUI, you&#8217;ll quickly see that the new user has basically no permissions at this point, so make sure to read the next section if you need administrative privileges for this user.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Related_questions\"><\/span>Related questions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_add_%E2%80%9Csudo%E2%80%9D_permission_to_a_new_user\"><\/span>How to add &#8220;sudo&#8221; permission to a new user?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>On Kali Linux, users must be members of the &#8220;sudo&#8221; group to get access to the sudo command line, which gives them administrative privileges. The &#8220;adduser&#8221; command can again be used to do this.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By default, the new user can&#8217;t use sudo, and will typicall get an error:<br><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"440\" height=\"133\" class=\"wp-image-1536\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-sudo-error.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-sudo-error.jpg 440w, https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-sudo-error-300x91.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 440px) 100vw, 440px\" \/><br><em>&lt;username> is not in the sudoers file.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The error message is not very clear on how to fix it, but on Kali Linux is pretty straightforward, the only thing you need is to add the new user to the &#8220;sudo&#8221; group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Make sure you&#8217;re still logged in with the main user (not the new one), and follow this command syntax:<br><code>sudo adduser &lt;username> sudo<\/code><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, with my previous example, it would be:<br><code>sudo adduser infosecscout sudo<br><\/code>Obviously, this must be done by a user with administrative privileges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"571\" height=\"153\" src=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-add-user-sudo.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1537\" srcset=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-add-user-sudo.jpg 571w, https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-add-user-sudo-300x80.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 571px) 100vw, 571px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Once done, logout from your main user session, and try again from the new user session.<br>It should be fine after that:<br><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"425\" height=\"175\" class=\"wp-image-1538\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-sudo-ok.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-sudo-ok.jpg 425w, https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-sudo-ok-300x124.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 425px) 100vw, 425px\" \/><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have access to the GUI, you can even do it from the system settings, check the next question for more details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_add_a_new_user_to_a_specific_group\"><\/span>How to add a new user to a specific group?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>On Kali Linux users can be added to a group either by using the adduser command (sudo adduser &lt;user> &lt;group>), or via the &#8220;Users &amp; groups&#8221; settings from the GUI.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I showed you how to do it in command lines in the previous question (you can replace &#8220;sudo&#8221; with any other group), but the easiest way on Kali is probably to use the GUI:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Open the system settings, and find the &#8220;Users and groups&#8221; item.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Under the list of users, click on &#8220;Manage groups&#8221;:<br><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"661\" height=\"281\" class=\"wp-image-1541\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-manage-groups.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-manage-groups.jpg 661w, https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-manage-groups-300x128.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 661px) 100vw, 661px\" \/><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A list with all the system groups shows up, find the group you want to edit (&#8220;sudo&#8221; for example), and select it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Then click on &#8220;Properties&#8221; to see the groups members:<br><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"409\" height=\"277\" class=\"wp-image-1540\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-group-properties.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-group-properties.jpg 409w, https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-group-properties-300x203.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 409px) 100vw, 409px\" \/><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In the new window, you&#8217;ll see the group name, id and members.<br><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"423\" height=\"244\" class=\"wp-image-1539\" style=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-group-members.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-group-members.jpg 423w, https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/kali-group-members-300x173.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 423px) 100vw, 423px\" \/>You can simply check\/uncheck any user to add or remove them from the group.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I wish it was this easy in other distributions, but anyway, creating a new user and managing its permissions is not that complicated in Kali Linux, and now you know how to do it in two different ways :-).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oddly enough, Kali Linux is a security-oriented distribution, but it comes with a default login and password. You will need to harden it a bit after the initial installation. You can always change the password or even set a different user name. But it&#8217;s also possible to create a new one. Here is how to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1544,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":16,"label":"Kali Linux"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/add-user-kali-linux-1024x683.jpg",1024,683,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Patrick Fromaget","author_link":"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/about\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":16,"name":"Kali Linux","slug":"kali-linux","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":16,"taxonomy":"category","description":"Jump into our Kali Linux Tutorials. They're perfect for getting the hang of this cool Linux distribution. We make it easy to learn the basics and a bit more!","parent":0,"count":37,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":16,"category_count":37,"category_description":"Jump into our Kali Linux Tutorials. They're perfect for getting the hang of this cool Linux distribution. We make it easy to learn the basics and a bit more!","cat_name":"Kali Linux","category_nicename":"kali-linux","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1528"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1528"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1545,"href":"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1528\/revisions\/1545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infosecscout.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}