Checking Processes Are Started with Correct User
 

Hi There

I am trying to create a script with will allow me to check if a specific process is being run by the correct user (in this case this would be root).
I have tried a few scripts but hasn't worked so far, my last attempt was:

process_count=`pgrep -u root -x Introscope_WebView.lax;echo $?`

if [ "$process_count" -eq 0]
then
process_user="Root"
else
process_user="Not Root"
fi

echo "<metric type="LongCounter" name="OS Processes|WebView User Process:Process Count" value="$process_count"/>"
echo "<metric type="StringEvent" name="OS Processes|WebView User Process:Process User" value="$process_user"/>"

exit 0

"Introscope_Webview.lax" is the process i want to ensure is being run by root

Many Thanks
Alex

You're not really getting a process count but to do it the way you have it you just need to redirect the output of the pgrep command to /dev/null:

The reason is that without the redirect successful pgreps are giving 2 lines of output rather than the 1 you're expecting from the return code (echo $?).

@MensaWater

Thank you for your response

I have tried your solution but it still comes back "not as root" I have double checked the ps- efl|grep java and it is defiantly ran by root as shown below:

0 S root 12003 1 6 80 0 - 1735348 futex_ Feb06 ? 02:37:01 ./jre/bin/java -Xms2048m -Xmx2048m -Djava.awt.headless=true -Dorg.owasp.esapi.resources=./config/esapi -Dsun.java2d.noddraw=true -Dorg.osgi.framework.bootdelegation=org.apache.xpath -javaagent:./product/webview/agent/wily/Agent.jar -Dcom.wily.introscope.agentProfile=./product/webview/agent/wily/core/config/IntroscopeAgent.profile -Dcom.wily.introscope.wilyForWilyPrefix=com.wily -Djetty.home=./ com.zerog.lax.LAX /opt/ca/APM/Introscope10.2.0.27/Introscope_WebView.lax /tmp/env.properties.12003

Cheers
Alex

What gets returned when you just run:

The "-x" flag is specifying command name. In your latest post you're showing the command name is actually "java" and the Introscope stuff is just part of the command line but not actually the name. Use the "-f" flag instead of "-x" so it looks at the entire command line:

The output of cat proc/pid/status provides a lot of information including UID(s).

Remember that /proc, although it appears to be a directory containing subdirectories and files, is in fact an operating-system API.

True enough but then the OP would first have to find the pid then look at /proc/pid which would add possibly unnecessary steps. What he is trying to do to find the basic answer works with pgrep and the appropriate flags for his conditional. (I'm not sure what the intent of the echos after that are.)

@TenTenths
When I run the command nothing appears:
[rp1cem@wycvlapph036 ca]$ pgrep -u root -x Introscope_WebView.lax
[rp1cem@wycvlapph036 ca]$

@MensaWater
Yes this worked and returned root! Fantastic
Any chance I can get it to return the PID of root as well?

Thanks for the responses guys!
Alex

What MW said is what I was hoping you get to after seeing that your pgrep wasn't returning anything. I just wasn't going to give the full answer ;) ;)

In the above I'm using $() to encapsulate the command rather than ``. The latter still works but is deprecated and less useful than the former especially where you need to nest commands.

The first line just gets the Process ID (PID) reported by the pgrep.
The second line gets the return code of the first line.
If return code is 0 is prints your original echo and adds the PID to it.
If return code is not 0 it prints your original echo but doesn't show the PID (because there won't be one since the first line only returns a PID if it is being run as root).

@MensaWater

Thank you so much for your help on this!

Not just with the code but also explaining it as well, great stuff :D

Cheers
Alex

Glad I could help.

Please go to Thread Tools and mark this as Solved. It helps others in future with similar questions more quickly find solutions in web searches.

Hi guys

Any reason why this is coming back with no result?

- webview_process_user=`ps -efl | grep 'Introscope_Webview.lax' | grep -v grep | awk '{print $3}'`

-rw-r--r--. 1 root root 5014 Jan 25 18:17 Introscope_WebView.lax

[rp1cem@wycvlapph036 enterprisemanager]$ ps -efl | grep 'Introscope_Webview.lax' | grep -v grep | awk '{print $3}'
[rp1cem@wycvlapph036 enterprisemanager]$

Cheers
Alex