Stop using root, want to add a new main account

[chrille112]

I have a server hosting about 50 domains. Each domain is owned by a user, and each user has an own group, for example:

drwx--x--x    9 reklamsk      reklamsk         4096 Apr 24 12:06 reklamsk/

Today I'm logging in with root to make it easy to switch between the different users (they are all mine), but it doesn't feel good. I want to add a new user, that has permission to access all home dirs.

How do I do that?

The server is being administrated with cPanel.

[DOllaBillz217]

I'd guess you could create a new user and just give him the proper permissions or make him have sole ownership (chown). Not positive, but it seems like it'd make sense

[anomie]

1. If you had less restrictive group permissions, you could add the new user to all the groups.
2. If you need to maintain the current permissions setup, you can accomplish this using filesystem ACLs.

[chrille112]

Hmm, I need to maintain the current permission setup.
What is filesystem ACLs?

[anomie]

Think of them as an add-on to standard Unix filesystem permissions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Access_control_list

Here's one of the first hits googling for 'linux filesystem acls':

http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Use_filesystem_ACLs

Some info there is obviously gentoo-specific. Whether you can use them right away depends on whether support has been compiled into your kernel already.

I've used filesystem ACLs in situations similar to what you're describing. Basically, a directory required specific ownership / permissions, but I wanted a "special" (non-root) user to be able to traverse and read its contents.

Anyway, there are a lot of good resources on getting this working on the web. Post here if you have some specific questions. Happy reading.