How can I make the "shutdown" command available for all users?

LinuxSeeker · 06-01-2005, 03:25 PM

I know that using GUI is a very easy way to do it, but I want to allow all users to access this command from the command line. What should I do? I guess I will have to copy the "shutdown" from /sbin to /bin but how can I make this copy executable for all users (or better for a specific user)? Maybe by using the chmod command but I don't know how exactly...

Can someone please help me?

Tinkster · 06-01-2005, 03:41 PM

chmod u+s /sbin/halt
ln -s /sbin/halt /bin/halt

Cheers,
Tink

LinuxSeeker · 06-01-2005, 04:31 PM

Thanks, that should work for all users but what if I want to give execute permissions to a specific user (for example usertest)?

I tried "chmod usertest +x /sbin/shutdown" but I get the error "chmod: invalid mode string: `usertest'

what now?

Thanks in advance

Tinkster · 06-01-2005, 04:36 PM

That won't work ... what you can do alternatively is
to
e.g.
groupadd shutdown
usermod -g shutdown usertest
chgrp shutdown /sbin/halt

Cheers,
Tink

LinuxSeeker · 06-01-2005, 04:52 PM

Nope, it doesnt work... A message says "shutdown: must be root to do that"

Can I do something like what I described above, to give extra rights to a user without adding him to a group?

Tinkster · 06-01-2005, 05:06 PM

Odd - works fine here.

Show's the output of
ls -l `which halt`?

And no, you can't.

Cheers,
Tink

LinuxSeeker · 06-01-2005, 05:12 PM

Maybe I get this error message due to the fact that I use "shutdown" instead of halt...

I typed the previous commands as follows:

groupadd advanced
usermod -g advanced usertest
chgrp advanced /sbin/shutdown

But I keep getting the same error...

Wynd · 06-01-2005, 05:40 PM

Try using sudo. It lets you give other users root permissions for whichever commands you choose, by typing (for example) "sudo halt".

http://www.courtesan.com/sudo/