Re: [PLUG] correct way to do this in bash [sudo cp]

["John Karr" <brainbuz@brainbuz.org>]

You can try "sudo su" to make your session a root session. 

-----Original Message-----
From: plug-bounces@lists.phillylinux.org
[mailto:plug-bounces@lists.phillylinux.org] On Behalf Of JP Vossen
Sent: Monday, September 28, 2009 3:27 PM
To: plug@lists.phillylinux.org
Subject: Re: [PLUG] correct way to do this in bash [sudo cp]

> Date: Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:15:30 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Bob Schwier <schwepes2002@yahoo.com>
> 
> I swiped this thread because I have a BASH question.  I'm using Ubantu
> 8.02 and I have a modest problem with BASH under SUDO.  I'm trying to 
> extract personal files from a hard drive that ran SUSE 7.0.  I do not 
> seem to be able to use wild cards to speed up the process.  I seem to 
> have to extract each file individually.

Short answer:
	sudo -s
	cp /your/files/here/* .


Long answer:

You will run into problems using sudo when doing certain things, for
example:
	sudo cp /some/path/*
	sudo cat foo >> /something/your/user/can't/write/to

It's a shell issue, though I doubt it's restricted to bash.  The issue is
due to the order of command-line processing (Appendix C of _bash Cookbook_
which is taken from page 180+ in _Learning the bash Shell_). 
Basically, tokenization (including redirectors) then lots of expansions
(including wildcards) happen *before* the command actually runs.  IOW,
before sudo runs.  Remember that it's the *shell* that is doing wild-card
expansion, not the command.  So in your case it sounds like you are trying
to wild-card expand stuff your regular user doesn't have access to.  (That
same thing trips me up trying to 'sudo vi /etc/logcheck/{tab for filename
completion, which fails} all the time.)

There are three ways around this, depending on what you are doing.

1) sudo -s
2) sudo -c 'bash -c your_command_here'
3) command1 | sudo command2

#1 is easiest, but the effect is to give you a root prompt.  Thus you lose
sudo's command logging, and you need to remember you are now root, so be
careful and exit when you are finished!  (A decent $PS1 is very useful here
[1].)

#2 can be a real pain to get quoted right.  Basically, you are running a
bash shell, which is running a command, all of which is sudo'd.  Get it? 
  Good.

#3 only works if you are piping to another command you can sudo.  It won't
help for wildcards, filename completion, redirection, etc.

Honestly, if #3 won't obviously work I just do a 'sudo -s' then exit as soon
as I did whatever.

Later,
JP

[1] This is the $PS1 I use.  You will either love it or hate it.  To test,
run a bash sub-shell (just type 'bash') and paste this in.  If you hate it,
just type exit to kill the sub-shell.
PS1='\n[\u@\h:T\l:L$SHLVL:C\!:J\j:\D{%Y-%m-%d_%H:%M:%S_%Z}]\n$PWD\$ '
----------------------------|:::======|-------------------------------
JP Vossen, CISSP            |:::======|      http://bashcookbook.com/
My Account, My Opinions     |=========|      http://www.jpsdomain.org/
----------------------------|=========|-------------------------------
"Microsoft Tax" = the additional hardware & yearly fees for the add-on
software required to protect Windows from its own poorly designed and
implemented self, while the overhead incidentally flattens Moore's Law.

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___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group         --        http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion  --   http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug