Users, Groups, sudo, Capabilities
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Account Model for Operations
- No shared root passwords; use named users and sudo.
- Separate human access from service accounts.
- Centralize auth (SSO/SSH CA) if available; log everything.
Sudo Policy: Minimal and Auditable
# Validate current sudo rights sudo -l # Example sudoers snippet (use visudo) # %ops ALL=(root) NOPASSWD: /bin/systemctl status *, /bin/journalctl -u *
SSH Hardening (Operator Baseline)
# /etc/ssh/sshd_config PermitRootLogin no PasswordAuthentication no AllowGroups ops
Linux Capabilities (When Root is Overkill)
- Grant a process specific privileges without full root.
- Typical: bind to low ports without root.
# allow binary to bind to :80/:443 setcap cap_net_bind_service=+ep /usr/local/bin/myservice getcap /usr/local/bin/myservice
Failure Modes
- Sudo sprawl: too-broad rules; tighten to exact commands.
- Secret leakage: env vars and history; use safe tooling and redact logs.
- Capability creep: track and periodically review getcap outputs.