Cannot run basic commands unless Im logged on as root

zwyrbla · 08-22-2004, 12:18 AM

Ive noticed I cannot run anything except startx unless im logged on as root I cannot even use shutdown or poweroff how do I fix this?

btmiller · 08-22-2004, 12:37 AM

Commands that change the state of the machine (e.g. powering it off) are typiucally restricted to root. Commands liks listing files/directories, creating text files in your home directory, etc. should work fine.

jax8 · 08-22-2004, 12:39 AM

thats probably because these command are not in you $PATH

try

/sbin/shutdown

you will probably have to use the absolute path for these sorts of things.

You can however change you /etc/profile and add and export command with the directories you want to add to you path, or you can add it to your .bashrc file I think.

darthtux · 08-22-2004, 12:49 AM

You can create a group and name it something like shutdown. Add any users you want to use those commands to that group and then change the group ownership on those commands.

scuzzman · 08-22-2004, 07:20 AM

This may or may not be of any help, but here it is anyway:
I have a Mandrake 10 system, and I can enter the following commands, as a normal unpriviledged user, and it gets the desired result:

halt
reboot