BASH command for open file

phantom_cyph · 03-26-2007, 08:34 PM

I'm having a mind blank. What is the BASH command for opening a file? I need to open yum.conf as root and can't remember the command for opening a file. I know in Ubuntu its apt-get, but the CentOS terminal doesn't like it.

ilikejam · 03-26-2007, 08:49 PM

Hi.

vi / emacs / nano / pico. Or ed if you're feeling hardcore.

Dave.

phantom_cyph · 03-26-2007, 09:08 PM

OK, maybe I should rephrase the question. I don't want to look at its code, I want to open it with a text editor as root. How do I do that?

ilikejam · 03-26-2007, 09:16 PM

Confusion reigns.

The utilities I mentioned are all text editors. yum.conf has no code - it's a text file.

If you need to go root, do 'su', then open the file in one of the above editors, or maybe gedit, or perhaps kate.

Dave

phantom_cyph · 03-26-2007, 09:25 PM

So I would type "kate yum.conf"? gedit doesn't work.

ilikejam · 03-26-2007, 09:27 PM

If kate is installed, then yes.

phantom_cyph · 03-26-2007, 09:31 PM

no kate. what about joe? or Emacs?

ilikejam · 03-26-2007, 09:33 PM

Yeah. Whatever you've got.

Zention · 03-26-2007, 09:33 PM

su -
$EDITOR /etc/yum.conf

This assumes that $EDITOR is setup.

Not sure why you are mentioning BASH, I assume you mean command line.

To read a file's contents using bash it would be:

echo $(</etc/yum.conf)

phantom_cyph · 03-26-2007, 09:41 PM

It is still opening it in the terminal, not showing anything. Can I run as root somehow and just click on the document?

ilikejam · 03-26-2007, 09:43 PM

Code:

su -
nautilus

or

Code:

su -
konqueror

phantom_cyph · 03-26-2007, 09:52 PM

OK, using emacs, I can open it, but unless I am root, it will not save changes. The file on right-click gave the option open with emacs.

ilikejam · 03-26-2007, 09:55 PM

So do 'su -', then run 'nautilus' (if you're using GNOME) or 'konqueror' (if you're using KDE), then do right-click->Emacs on the file, and Emacs will be running as root, so will save changes.

After 516 posts, have you honestly never had to edit a file as root before?

phantom_cyph · 03-26-2007, 09:58 PM

Not in CentOS. In Ubuntu, I just logged in as root once I logged in as my user, and edited it. The problem is, I am using XCFE right now. Maybe I should switch back to KDE real quick...

ilikejam · 03-26-2007, 10:03 PM

If you're OK with emacs, then just do the following in a shell from KDE, or XFCE

Code:

su -
<password>
emacs /etc/yum.conf