Okay, I've dealt with Linux on a basic level for years now, but I've never needed to manage a server until now. I've made the leap to a dedicated box from a reseller account and need to secure the server.

My first step is to create a user that is in the wheel group so that I can sudo when I need root access. I have no idea what are the proper steps, so here is what I've tried:

1. Created user:
adduser <username>
2. Needed to add a password:
usermod -p <password> <username>
3. Added new user to the wheel group:
vi /etc/group
-> Changed from:
wheel:x:10:root
to:
wheel:x:10:root,<username>

I checked home and see there is a folder for the username, but when I try to login via SSH the username and password do not work.

What am I missing?

Thanks.

Check the contents of /etc/passwd to see if the acct has been created, also look for a home dir.
What errors do you get logging in, both at the client and also check the server eg /var/log/secure, /var/log/messages etc.

Also, usually with sudo there's no need to add users to the 'wheel' group.
Maybe you've got remote root logins disabled (a good idea) and it thinks this new user also classifies as root?

I figured this out, I needed to use the command passwd, which then runs a script to manage the password. I didn't see a place to specify the password in the command line, so I assumed that command wasn't proper.

adduser <username>
passwd <username>
-> follow prompts

then editing the wheel group using vigr.

I've logged in and am now blocking root login access.