Python & Linux, some questions

[Luca T.]

Hello,
i need some answers...

1) I need to run some linux commands (from inside my app) that require
superuser privileges (mkfs, losetup, etc), how do i do that? (I do not
want to run my app with root privileges, but it will just ask the user
for the root password before proceeding)
2) When i execute the command i need to read its output (especially the
error messages) to know if everything went fine but i do not know how :(
3) How can i know if the user that is running my app is root or normal user?

Thank you,
Luca

[Mathias Waack]

Re: Python & Linux, some questions

Luca T. wrote:[color=blue]
> 1) I need to run some linux commands (from inside my app) that
> require superuser privileges (mkfs, losetup, etc), how do i do
> that? (I do not want to run my app with root privileges, but it
> will just ask the user for the root password before proceeding)[/color]

man sudo(1), su(1) or setuid-bit (chmod(1))
[color=blue]
> 2) When i execute the command i need to read its output (especially
> the error messages) to know if everything went fine but i do not
> know how :[/color]

see the popen family of functions in the Python library.
[color=blue]
>( 3) How can i know if the user that is running my app is
> root or normal user?[/color]

os.getuid()

Mathias

[Luca T.]

Re: Python & Linux, some questions

Mathias Waack wrote:[color=blue]
> Luca T. wrote:
>[color=green]
>>1) I need to run some linux commands (from inside my app) that
>>require superuser privileges (mkfs, losetup, etc), how do i do
>>that? (I do not want to run my app with root privileges, but it
>>will just ask the user for the root password before proceeding)[/color]
>
>
> man sudo(1), su(1) or setuid-bit (chmod(1))[/color]

Hmmmm,
ok... "sudo" requires me to modify the user's system (or in other words
write in /etc/sudoers), a thing that i don't want to do. My app has not
to change the configuration of the machine.
Same thing for setuid-bit/chmod.

This leaves me with "su"... but there is a problem... "su" doesn't
execute any command, it just gives you a "prompt" as root (or another
user)... how can use this?

Thank you,
Luca

[Mathias Waack]

Re: Python & Linux, some questions

Luca T. wrote:[color=blue]
> This leaves me with "su"... but there is a problem... "su" doesn't
> execute any command, it just gives you a "prompt" as root (or
> another user)... how can use this?[/color]

Please read su(1) until you find the answer. Or use the right group;)

Mathias

[Luca T.]

Re: Python & Linux, some questions

Mathias Waack wrote:
[color=blue]
> Please read su(1) until you find the answer. Or use the right group;)[/color]

Damn, you are right, thanx... now i wonder why sudo exists though... oh
well.

Bye,
Luca

[Nai Namae]

Re: Python & Linux, some questions

a magic combination of both would be the command:

sudo su -

:)

make a shell "script" out of it:

#!/bin/bash
sudo su -

call it "root", make it executable to everyone, put it in /usr/local/bin or
any other path in $PATH, add all users on your system to /etc/sudoers...

and just run your new "root" command and enjoy.. ok, of course you should
not do so!
by using "root" you can now have a root shell withouth having to type a
password every time :/

Luca T. wrote:
[color=blue]
> Mathias Waack wrote:
>[color=green]
>> Please read su(1) until you find the answer. Or use the right group;)[/color]
>
> Damn, you are right, thanx... now i wonder why sudo exists though... oh
> well.
>
> Bye,
> Luca[/color]

[bobb]

Re: Python & Linux, some questions

I use pexpect to telnet and ssh...

"Luca T." <lucat@despamme d.com> wrote in message
news:c32b2j$222 k3a$1@ID-99001.news.uni-berlin.de...[color=blue]
> Hello,
> i need some answers...
>
> 1) I need to run some linux commands (from inside my app) that require
> superuser privileges (mkfs, losetup, etc), how do i do that? (I do not
> want to run my app with root privileges, but it will just ask the user
> for the root password before proceeding)
> 2) When i execute the command i need to read its output (especially the
> error messages) to know if everything went fine but i do not know how :(
> 3) How can i know if the user that is running my app is root or normal[/color]
user?[color=blue]
>
> Thank you,
> Luca[/color]

[Dennis Lee Bieber]

Re: Python &amp; Linux, some questions

On Sun, 14 Mar 2004 23:09:51 +0100, "Luca T." <lucat@despamme d.com>
declaimed the following in comp.lang.pytho n:
[color=blue]
> Damn, you are right, thanx... now i wonder why sudo exists though... oh
> well.
>[/color]
sudo doesn't require the root password, only the authorized
user's password. It can also be configured to only allow access to
certain commands, not everything.

--[color=blue]
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