# Administrative Tasks

&legalnotice;

For security reasons, administrative tasks in Ubuntu can only be performed by users with special administrative privileges. The first user account created during installation will, by default, be able to perform administrative tasks.

When you run an application that requires administrative privileges, you will be asked to enter your user password. This helps to protect your system from malicious files and accidentally selecting options which may change the way your system works.

Each time you type your password, the system remembers it for 15 minutes so that you do not have to type it again.

## Giving administrative access to a user

You can restrict and enable administrative access (sudo) to users with the Users and Groups application:

- Click &users-groups;

- Click Unlock and enter your password

- Select the user who is to be given administrative access and press Properties

- Select the User Privileges tab

- Check the box next to Administer the system and press OK

## Using sudo at the command line

When working with terminals (&terminal;), any command can be run as an administrator by typing `sudo` before it.

Sudo will remember your password for a set amount of time; by default this is 15 minutes, but can be changed. This feature was designed to allow users to perform multiple administrative tasks without being asked for a password each time.

If the program you wish to run as an administrator is graphical, such as the Gnome text editor (&text-editor;), you should use the command `gksudo` followed by the command you wish to run.

Be careful when using sudo; you might damage your system if you type the wrong command! As a general rule, only use sudo when absolutely necessary.

When you use sudo from a terminal, be sure to close it when you have finished!

For more information on the sudo program see the sudo page on the Ubuntu wiki.