Creating user account which on login shuts down the computer

lgp171188 · 08-12-2009, 06:13 AM

I want to create an unprivileged user account, say 'shutdown', which can be used only to shutdown the system. I followed the instructions in http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/shutdo...ux-server.html. But when I login into the system, I get this error 'Cannot execute /usr/bin/sudo /sbin/shutdown -h now: No such file or directory'.

These are the configurations that I did

/etc/sudoers:

Code:

shutdown localhost=/sbin/shutdown -h now

/etc/passwd:

Code:

shutdown:x:999:0:shutdown:/sbin/:/usr/bin/sudo /sbin/shutdown -h now

I guess the shutdown binary and/or the /sbin folder is out of access for the shutdown user. How am I to get it right?

Thanks in advance.

shahz · 08-12-2009, 07:38 AM

why don't put the shutdown command directly in the root's crontab?

59 8 * * * /sbin/shutdown -h now

chrism01 · 08-12-2009, 09:56 PM

Please put your distro & version in your profile for better help.

Quote:

'Cannot execute /usr/bin/sudo /sbin/shutdown -h now: No such file or directory'.

usually means what it says: one or more of those cmds isn't where you think it is, or permissions have been set such that the user can't see those cmds.

Try

which sudo
which shutdown

and

ls - l

the results

Valery Reznic · 08-13-2009, 12:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lgp171188

I want to create an unprivileged user account, say 'shutdown', which can be used only to shutdown the system. I followed the instructions in http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/shutdo...ux-server.html. But when I login into the system, I get this error 'Cannot execute /usr/bin/sudo /sbin/shutdown -h now: No such file or directory'.

These are the configurations that I did

/etc/sudoers:

Code:

shutdown localhost=/sbin/shutdown -h now

/etc/passwd:

Code:

shutdown:x:999:0:shutdown:/sbin/:/usr/bin/sudo /sbin/shutdown -h now

I guess the shutdown binary and/or the /sbin folder is out of access for the shutdown user. How am I to get it right?

Thanks in advance.

Last field should be command, not command with args

So you can use
/etc/passwd:

Code:

shutdown:x:999:0:shutdown:/sbin/:/sbin/my_shutdown

And create in the /sbin shell script my shutdown

Code:

#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/sudo /sbin/shutdown -h now

And by the way, why do you want shutdown user unprivileged ?
Anyway this user do nothing but shutdown system, so I think you can
make shutdownn user with uid 0 and don't use sudo