CompTIA Linux+ Certification 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

The command to use for gaining root access to run a specific command is "sudo." This command allows a permitted user to execute a command as the superuser or another user, as specified by the security policy in the /etc/sudoers file. When a user prefixed a command with "sudo," they can temporarily elevate their privileges for that specific command without needing to log in as the root user.

Using "sudo" is often favored for its security benefits, as it keeps track of user activity and limits the potential damage that could occur from full root access. Additionally, it grants control over which users can run specific commands as root, ensuring a safer environment while performing administrative tasks.

The other options serve different purposes. For instance, "su" is used to switch the user context to the root user, but it usually requires the root password, which might not be preferred due to security practices. "sudoedit" allows users to edit files with root privileges while maintaining security, but it is specifically for editing files. "visudo" is a safe way to edit the sudoers file and is not used to run commands with elevated privileges. Thus, "sudo" is the most appropriate and widely used command for executing specific commands with root access efficiently