Aliases no longer working when logged into droplet as alternative user

[luannebe]

Hi, For learning purposes, I attempted to increase server security by setting up an alternative user to root. Things don't work exactly as I would expect, so I am wondering if I did something incorrectly. Two questions:

1. Are these proper ownership settings for my new user (see last line)? Should I be part of the www-data group?

   luannebert@hes:/var$ ls -la
   total 56
   drwxr-xr-x 14 root       root     4096 Jul  8  2021 .
   drwxr-xr-x 19 root       root     4096 Feb  8 18:51 ..
   drwxr-xr-x  2 root       root     4096 Feb 20 06:25 backups
   drwxr-xr-x 14 root       root     4096 Jan 29 22:36 cache
   drwxrwxrwt  2 root       root     4096 Jan 30 06:25 crash
   drwxr-xr-x 50 root       root     4096 Jan 30 06:37 lib
   drwxrwsr-x  2 root       staff    4096 Apr 15  2020 local
   lrwxrwxrwx  1 root       root        9 May 18  2021 lock -> /run/lock
   drwxrwxr-x 11 root       syslog   4096 Feb 20 00:00 log
   drwxrwsr-x  2 root       mail     4096 May 18  2021 mail
   drwxr-xr-x  2 root       root     4096 May 18  2021 opt
   lrwxrwxrwx  1 root       root        4 May 18  2021 run -> /run
   drwxr-xr-x  6 root       root     4096 Jan 29 20:40 snap
   drwxr-xr-x  5 root       root     4096 Jul  8  2021 spool
   drwxrwxrwt  5 root       root     4096 Feb 20 19:09 tmp
   drwxr-xr-x  5 luannebert www-data 4096 Feb 12 18:40 www

2. It seems that the aliases (restart, e15) work when I am connected as root, but do not work when connected as luannebert. For example:

   
   luannebert@hes:~$ restart

Command 'restart' not found, did you mean:

command 'rstart' from deb x11-session-utils (7.7+4) command 'restartd' from deb restartd (0.2.3-1build1)

Try: apt install

[dauger27]

I'm not certain about the permissions question you asked, but I can help regarding the aliases. The aliases set up were account-specific. If you want the aliases to work with the luannebert account, you'll just need to create them a second time within that account.

[susanBuck]

@dauger27 is spot on with how to fix the aliases. Just repeat the steps of setting up the aliases while logged into your new account.

Your permissions on the www directory look correct. The group of the www directory is www-data by default.

Let me know if you're running into any permission-related problems since making the changes.

[luannebe]

Worked like a charm ... all good now. Thanks @dauger27 and @susanBuck

[susanBuck]

Excellent! Going to close this thread, but feel free to re-open or start a new one if any issues arise.