User permissions on the Mac OS X operating system determine whether a user can perform certain operations, like changing sensitive settings or installing new programs. Setting a user as an administrator will allow her to perform these sensitive operations on a Mac. User permissions can be changed from either the System Preferences or the Terminal app.
1. Launch the Terminal app, by default found in the "/Applications/Utilities" directory, to open a command-line prompt.
2. Enter the command "sudo dscl / -append /Groups/admin GroupMembership
3. Enter the administrative password to execute the command as the root user with the "sudo" command. It is not possible to make yourself an administrator if you do not have this password, as that would create a security flaw.
- Elevating a user as an administrator requires knowing the root password.
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