How to Disable the sudo Password in Linux: NOPASSWD for User, Commands, and Group

sudo prompts for a password on every use — this is an intentional security measure. The system verifies that a privileged command is being run by the actual user and not a script or program attempting unauthorized access.

That said, there are legitimate cases where disabling the password makes sense: automated scripts and CI/CD pipelines, system maintenance on isolated servers, development environments where frequent password prompts disrupt the workflow. For production servers with public access, disabling the password is not recommended.

How It Works: the NOPASSWD Directive

sudo behavior is configured in /etc/sudoers. Adding the NOPASSWD directive to a user or group entry disables the password prompt for the specified commands.

The /etc/sudoers file must only be edited via visudo — the utility validates syntax before saving and prevents writing a broken file. An error in sudoers can completely lock out access to sudo.

sudo visudo

Disable Password for a Specific User

Find the User privilege specification section and add a line:

linux90 ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

Breaking down the format linux90 ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL:

• linux90 — the username
• first ALL — from any host
• (ALL) — as any user
• NOPASSWD: — without a password prompt
• last ALL — for any command

Save and close. In vi: Esc, then :wq. After this, sudo will not prompt linux90 for a password for any command.

Disable Password for Specific Commands Only

To keep password prompts for most commands but disable them for specific ones — for example apt and reboot:

linux90 ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/apt, /sbin/reboot

Paths must be absolute. Commands are separated by commas. For all other commands, the password will still be requested normally.

Find the full path to a command:

which apt
which reboot

Disable Password for a Group of Users

To apply the setting to all members of a group — use the % prefix before the group name:

%group_name ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

For example, for a group called deploy:

%deploy ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/apt, /usr/bin/systemctl

All members of the deploy group will be able to run apt and systemctl without a password.

Add a user to the group:

sudo usermod -aG deploy username

Use a File in sudoers.d (Recommended Approach)

Rather than editing the main /etc/sudoers file, it is better to create a separate file in /etc/sudoers.d/. This is more manageable for multiple users and safer during system updates:

sudo visudo -f /etc/sudoers.d/linux90

File contents:

linux90 ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

The file permissions must be 0440:

sudo chmod 0440 /etc/sudoers.d/linux90

Files from /etc/sudoers.d/ are included automatically via the #includedir directive in the main sudoers file.

Verify the Setting Was Applied

sudo -l -U linux90

The output should contain a line with NOPASSWD:

(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

Or switch to the user and test:

su - linux90
sudo apt update

No password will be requested.

Re-enable the Password Prompt

Remove the NOPASSWD line via visudo, or delete the created file from sudoers.d:

sudo rm /etc/sudoers.d/linux90

Quick Reference