sudo started complaining about missing /etc/environment

Mig21 · 10-18-2019, 10:24 AM

Hello

I've had a cron job for years with these contents:

Code:

sudo -i -u spamd /usr/local/bin/sa-update

This morning I got an email from root saying:

Quote:

sudo: /etc/environment: No such file or directory

Luckily I remembered that I installed the sudo security update that was releases recently, using the package from the Slackware repository.

Now it looks like no matter what user I use or what command I run, I get the same warning:

Code:

sudo -i -u andrew ls /
sudo: /etc/environment: No such file or directory
bin   dev  git   lib    lost+found  mnt  proc             root  sbin  svn  tmp  var
boot  etc  home  lib64  media       opt  razor-agent.log  run   srv   sys  usr

I guess the sudo update contained more than just the required bugfix. Does anyone have suggestions for what I should do?

I have no idea what I would put in /etc/environment, and why it seems to be required but is not included by default.

Thanks in advance.

ponce · 10-18-2019, 10:31 AM

try

Code:

sudo -i touch /etc/environment

or, if you prefer, as root

Code:

touch /etc/environment

sudo shouldn't show any warning after that...

for details see
https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ml#post6047733
https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ml#post6047879

Mig21 · 10-18-2019, 10:49 AM

That worked, thanks. I hope having it there won't cause any unexpected consequences.

TheRealGrogan · 10-18-2019, 01:53 PM

It won't, as you just created a blank file. The -i switch sources root's environment, and I guess the new sudo expects that file to be there. It's yet another clever file for putting global environment variables in.

ivandi · 10-18-2019, 03:40 PM

Careful observers might have noticed that /etc/environment has been since ages the standard way to set the environment using the pam_env.so module.

Cheers

upnort · 10-18-2019, 08:31 PM

In 14.2 Pat rendered the issue moot:

Code:

Fri Oct 18 21:00:50 UTC 2019
patches/packages/sudo-1.8.28p1-x86_64-2_slack14.2.txz:  Rebuilt.
  This is a bugfix release:
  Ensure that /etc/environment exists to prevent complaints from "sudo -i".

Likewise in Current:

Code:

Fri Oct 18 21:00:50 UTC 2019
a/shadow-4.7-x86_64-2.txz:  Rebuilt.
  Added /etc/environment.new to fix "sudo -i" noise.

GazL · 10-19-2019, 04:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivandi

Careful observers might have noticed that /etc/environment has been since ages the standard way to set the environment using the pam_env.so module.

Cheers

It's also read by /bin/login, and su, even without PAM. Unfortunately, xdm doesn't read it without PAM, so it makes the environment a little inconsistent when PAM is absent. The xdm case is easy enough to fix, but I admit PAM makes things cleaner here.

If I remember rightly, on AIX, it's actually read by init and inherited from PID 1 by everything, which IMO, is a sensible way of handling a global environment.

Mig21 · 10-19-2019, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by upnort

In 14.2 Pat rendered the issue moot:

Code:

Fri Oct 18 21:00:50 UTC 2019
patches/packages/sudo-1.8.28p1-x86_64-2_slack14.2.txz:  Rebuilt.
  This is a bugfix release:
  Ensure that /etc/environment exists to prevent complaints from "sudo -i".

Likewise in Current:

Code:

Fri Oct 18 21:00:50 UTC 2019
a/shadow-4.7-x86_64-2.txz:  Rebuilt.
  Added /etc/environment.new to fix "sudo -i" noise.

Weird. How come I didn't have one then, having installed all the updates in 14.2?

bassmadrigal · 10-19-2019, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mig21

Weird. How come I didn't have one then, having installed all the updates in 14.2?

That update was pushed late yesterday, several hours after your initial post. If you update again, it should create a new file and you would need to allow slackpkg to move it over (since you already have one, it would prompt you when it runs the new-config portion of slackpkg).