Users and Privileges

Much of the information below also appears in the PLCnext Info Center.

admin user

By default, the admin user is granted the privilege to run a number of commands as a super-user. You can see the complete list of these commands as follows:

admin@axcf2152:~$ sudo -l
Password:
User admin may run the following commands on axcf2152:
    (ALL) /usr/bin/passwd
    (ALL) /sbin/ifconfig
    (ALL) /bin/date
    (ALL) /etc/init.d/plcnext
    (ALL) /etc/init.d/openvpn
    (ALL) /etc/init.d/ntpd
    (ALL) /etc/init.d/sshd
    (ALL) /usr/sbin/ipsec
    (ALL) /usr/sbin/swanctl
    (ALL) /etc/init.d/firewall
    (ALL) /usr/sbin/nft
    (ALL) /sbin/ldconfig
    (ALL) /sbin/shutdown
    (ALL) /sbin/reboot
    (ALL) /usr/sbin/tcpdump
    (ALL) /usr/sbin/update-rc.d
    (ALL) /usr/sbin/update-plcnext
    (ALL) /usr/sbin/recover-plcnext
    (ALL) /usr/bin/dpkg
    (ALL) /usr/bin/gdbserver
    (ALL) /usr/bin/gdbserver-plcnext.sh
    (ALL) /usr/bin/gdbserver-preprocess.sh
    (ALL) /usr/bin/gdbserver-prio-request.sh
    (ALL) /usr/bin/gdbserver-prio-set.sh
    (ALL) /usr/bin/gdbserver-start-program-wrapper.sh
    (ALL) /usr/sbin/update-axcf2152
    (ALL) /usr/sbin/recover-axcf2152
    (ALL) /usr/bin/gdbserver-plcnext.sh
    (ALL) /usr/bin/gdbserver-preprocess.sh
    (ALL) /usr/bin/gdbserver-prio-request.sh
    (ALL) /usr/bin/gdbserver-prio-set.sh
    (ALL) /usr/bin/gdbserver-start-program-wrapper.sh
    (ALL) /usr/sbin/sdcard_state.sh

These sudo privileges are granted using configuration files in the /etc/sudoers.d directory.

In some cases it may be required to grant the admin user the privilege to execute more commands than those listed above. This can be done by adding one or more files to the /etc/sudoers.d directory.

In the extreme case, it is possible to grant the admin user the right to execute all commands on the controller, by adding a file to the /etc/sudoers.d directory containing the following line:

admin ALL=(ALL) ALL

Note that it is not recommended to edit or delete any file that is installed with the firmware.

root user

In some cases it may be required to switch to the root user. In this case, a root user password must first be set, using the following command:

admin@axcf2152:~$ sudo passwd root

We trust you have received the usual lecture from the local System
Administrator. It usually boils down to these three things:

    #1) Respect the privacy of others.
    #2) Think before you type.
    #3) With great power comes great responsibility.

Password: *Enter admin user password*

Changing password for root
Enter the new password (minimum of 5 characters)
Please use a combination of upper and lower case letters and numbers.
New password: *Enter root user password*
Re-enter new password: *Confirm password*

You can now switch to the root user using the command su root, or simply su.

Creating an ssh session as root

In some cases, it may be required to connect directly to the controller as root, using ssh or its associated utilities (scp, sftp, etc).

In order to open an ssh session on the controller as root, the ssh daemon must be configured to accept logins from that user. To do this, log in to the controller as admin, switch to the root user using the su command, and edit the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file using your favourite editor.

The controller includes vi (vim) and nano text editors. There are many online resources available if you need to learn how to use one these editors.

In the sshd_config file, remove the comment symbol # from this line:

#PermitRootLogin yes

Save the file, exit from the editor, and restart the ssh daemon:

root@axcf2152:~# /etc/init.d/sshd restart

Logging in without a password

For activities that require frequent login to a PLCnext Control device, e.g. during application development and testing, it can become tedious to repeatedly enter the same password. It is possible to use key-based SSH authentication to eliminate this chore, without compromising security.

The following article from a Phoenix Contact technical support site describes how to implement this standard Linux feature for the admin user on a PLCnext Control device:

How to set up key-based SSH authentication to a PLCnext Control device.

The PLCnext Runtime