This document explains how to create a second root user and is applicable to AIX Versions 4.x.
Follow these steps to create a second root user:
russ:!:206:1::/u/russ:/bin/kshto
russ:!:0:0::/u/russ:/bin/ksh
This creates a user (in this case, russ) with identical permissions to root.
Special users that have root authority but can only execute one command may also be created. For instance, to create a user that can only reboot the system, create a regular user called shutdown and modify the /etc/passwd command to change the user and group ID to 0.
For AIX 4, the /etc/passwd entry for the user called shutdown should be:
shutdown:!:0:0::/u/shutdown:/usr/sbin/shutdown -FrThe shutdown command on AIX Version 4.1 is located in /usr/sbin.
Now when user shutdown logs in, the system will shut down and reboot.
NOTE: If you do not want to create a new user to execute only one command as in the shutdown example above, please, see our prism fax: "How Permissions Work," which explains how a normal user can execute commands with root authority with the help of the setuid bit.
[ Doc Ref: 90605188514728 Publish Date: Aug. 06, 2001]