What is the "wheel" user and how do I get to be wheel?

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Level 1

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What is the "wheel" user and how do I get to be wheel?

I am trying to install some software that requires me to creates some directories in /usr/local, but when I try to do so it tells me that I don't have permission. So ... I looked at the directory for /usr and see that the owner of most of the directories is "wheel". Coming from my Unix background, I'd expect to see root as the owner. What is this thing called "wheel", and how can I become wheel so that I can do the things I need to do to install a new directory in there?

PowerBook G4 and Imac G5, Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Posted on Jan 26, 2006 10:54 AM

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Answer 1

Camelot

Level 9

58,599 points

Jan 26, 2006 11:06 AM in response to Roger_DeBry

There is no 'wheel' user. There is a 'wheel' group, so maybe that's what you're getting confused with.

In order to do what you want, just use sudo %lt;command> to execute the command with elevated (i.e. root) privileges (after you authenticate).

If you want a root shell use sudo -s then execute the commands as normal.

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Answer 2

David_

Level 1

120 points

Jan 26, 2006 11:07 AM in response to Roger_DeBry

Roger,
I may be mistaken but by default OS X does not have a user named "wheel." However, there is an group named wheel. Depending on what flavor of unix you are using the wheel group holds the root and other system administrator accounts. In OS X the only user in the wheel group is root. All other accounts with Administrative privileges are in the "admin" group. If you need to create a directory in /usr make sure you are an administrative user (in the admin group) and precede your mkdir command with "sudo." Darwin will ask you for your login password then execute your command as if you were logged in as root. Since the root user is a part of the wheel group the directory you created will belong to the user root and the group wheel.

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