---
title: "Run axolet as non-root"
url: "https://axoflow.com/docs/axoflow/0.86/provisioning/axolet/non-root/"
last_modified: "2025-08-12T13:23:20+02:00"
---

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://axoflow.com/docs/axoflow/0.86/llms.txt).

# Run axolet as non-root

If the log collector agent (AxoSyslog or syslog-ng) is running as a non-root user, you may want to configure the Axolet agent to run as the same user.
To do that, set the `AXOLET_USER` and `AXOLET_GROUP` environment variables to the user’s username and groupname. For details, see [Advanced installation options](https://axoflow.com/docs/axoflow/0.86/provisioning/axolet/advanced-options/index.md).

Operators will need to have access to the following commands:

- `/usr/bin/systemctl * axolet.service`: Controls the `axolet.service` systemd unit. Usually `*` is `start`, `stop`, `restart`, `enable`, and `status`. Used by the operators for troubleshooting.
- `/usr/local/bin/configure-axolet`: Creates initial `axolet` configuration and enables/starts the `axolet` service. Executed by the bootstrap script.
- Command to install and upgrade the `axolet` package. Executed by the bootstrap script if the packages aren’t already installed.

  - On RPM-based Linux distributions: `/usr/bin/rpm -Uv axo*.rpm`
  - On DEB-based Linux distributions: `/usr/bin/dpkg -i axo*.deb`

For example, you can permit the `syslogng` user to run these commands by running the following commands:

**RPM**

```shell
sudo tee /etc/sudoers.d/configure-axoflow <<A
syslogng ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/local/bin/configure-axolet
syslogng ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /bin/systemctl * axolet.service
# for rpm installation:
syslogng ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/rpm -Uv axo*.rpm
A
```

**DEB**

```shell
sudo tee /etc/sudoers.d/configure-axoflow <<A
syslogng ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/local/bin/configure-axolet
syslogng ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /bin/systemctl * axolet.service
# for deb installation:
syslogng ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/dpkg -i axo*.deb
A
```