The Administrative User Account

When you ordered your VPS2, you were asked to provide a username and password for an administrative user. This user account is designed to allow you to perform many of the administrative tasks required for managing your new VPS2. The admin user account has been given special permissions, including the ability to manage user accounts, configure your Email and Web servers, and the ability to become root.

Unlike the root user, the administrative user has access to FTP and Email. Although it is possible to use un-encrypted protocols to access your administrative user account, it would be ideal for security reasons to only use secure protocols (such as SSH, FTP over SSH, HTTPS, etc.) when you will be connecting to your server with the administrative user. This is especially important for shell sessions where you will be using the su utility to become root.

It is possible to do many administrative tasks with the administrative user account. There are some things, however, that will require you to be the root user. The administrator belongs to the wheel group, and can become the root user by typing su at the command prompt. After entering the root password, you will be given a prompt and will be root. At this point, you can manage other user's filespace, install or remove programs, or do any other administrative task you may choose. Once you have finished the administrative tasks that require root level control, it is a good idea to log-out of the root account. To do this, type exit at the command prompt, and you will be returned to your administrative user login.

If you have any questions about using your administrative user account or its capabilities, please contact our support staff.