Scripting

[dctw]

Hi, I want to write a script which needs to run some commands as a different user.

Is there a way to write the script without having to manually SU to another user first?

[MarkSyder · Accepted solution]

I've never tried this, but the first thing I would try is to put a line in the script:

su - username -c command

substituting username and command as appropriate. Please let us know if it works.

Mark Syder (like the drink but spelt different)

[dctw]

What if I want to run a series of commands ?

[dctw]

It didn't work. I'm SU from root. It asks me for login credentials.

[MarkSyder]

But are you running the script as root? What is the ownership of the script?

If my suggestion worked, you would need a separate su line for each command.

Mark

[Hemmetter]

Hi dctw,

The same way you manually SU to another user you can do SU inside a script:

su - $OTHER -c "cmd"
But you will be prompted for a password if you are NOT "root" while executing the script.

Better may be to install "sudo" and configure user-A to be allowed to execute some cmds as user-B without password.

sudo -u $OTHER "cmd"

rgds
HGH

[dctw]

Ah... after some modification.. it's fine now...

Thank you so much.

So how do I run a series of commands as a diffferent user?

[MarkSyder]

How many commands are in a series? If two or three, do a line with su for each. If more than this, it may be worth putting them in a separate script and making your main script run that on the line with su.

Mark

[Dennis Handly]

>So how do I run a series of commands as a different user?

Either use a script as Mark suggested or you can use ";" to separate commands. Or you can use newlines:
su - $OTHER -c "cmd1
cmd2
cmd3"

[dctw]

su - user -c command

Thank you guys so much for the help.