add su password

themanwhowas · 09-09-2007, 02:43 PM

hi guys.

Is there a way to add the password to an su command? i mean instead of it asking for the password is there a switch or something that i can use like su -p password

I'm experimenting with bash and i cant find any way around this. The best i have is su -c 'yum update' which asks for the password then runs the yum update command automatically.

Thanks

XavierP · 09-09-2007, 02:45 PM

But that'll mean putting your root password in plaintext. Also, if the program needs to run on a PC that isn't your own, the password will be incorrect.

Either way, you are introducing a massive security hole.

themanwhowas · 09-10-2007, 11:04 AM

its a home pc. im the only person who uses it. never going to distribute the file to anybody. Its safe.

Lets imagine that i just want to su with a password without a bash script just using a normal konsole.

Is it possible?

jschiwal · 09-10-2007, 11:09 AM

It would be better to use sudo. You can set up sudo (using the visudo program) so that if you are a member of the %wheel group you don't need a password. There is a sample line for this that you just need to uncomment. However, this isn't the most secure either. Remember, if you are connected to the internet, you still have to be careful about security.

themanwhowas · 09-10-2007, 11:19 AM

sudo eh? i'll look into it. thanks

XavierP · 09-10-2007, 05:09 PM

I checked the man page for su, there appears to be no option to pipe the command to it, you'd need to build it into the script. Sudo is definitely the better way to go.