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2: .\" Todd C. Miller <Todd.Miller@courtesan.com>
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144: .\" ========================================================================
145: .\"
146: .IX Title "VISUDO @mansectsu@"
147: .TH VISUDO @mansectsu@ "March 14, 2012" "1.8.5" "MAINTENANCE COMMANDS"
148: .\" For nroff, turn off justification. Always turn off hyphenation; it makes
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151: .nh
152: .SH "NAME"
153: visudo \- edit the sudoers file
154: .SH "SYNOPSIS"
155: .IX Header "SYNOPSIS"
156: \&\fBvisudo\fR [\fB\-chqsV\fR] [\fB\-f\fR \fIsudoers\fR]
157: .SH "DESCRIPTION"
158: .IX Header "DESCRIPTION"
159: \&\fBvisudo\fR edits the \fIsudoers\fR file in a safe fashion, analogous to
160: \&\fIvipw\fR\|(@mansectsu@). \fBvisudo\fR locks the \fIsudoers\fR file against multiple
161: simultaneous edits, provides basic sanity checks, and checks
162: for parse errors. If the \fIsudoers\fR file is currently being
163: edited you will receive a message to try again later.
164: .PP
165: There is a hard-coded list of one or more editors that \fBvisudo\fR will
166: use set at compile-time that may be overridden via the \fIeditor\fR \fIsudoers\fR
167: \&\f(CW\*(C`Default\*(C'\fR variable. This list defaults to \f(CW"@editor@"\fR. Normally,
168: \&\fBvisudo\fR does not honor the \f(CW\*(C`VISUAL\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`EDITOR\*(C'\fR environment
169: variables unless they contain an editor in the aforementioned editors
170: list. However, if \fBvisudo\fR is configured with the \fI\-\-with\-env\-editor\fR
171: option or the \fIenv_editor\fR \f(CW\*(C`Default\*(C'\fR variable is set in \fIsudoers\fR,
172: \&\fBvisudo\fR will use any the editor defines by \f(CW\*(C`VISUAL\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`EDITOR\*(C'\fR.
173: Note that this can be a security hole since it allows the user to
174: execute any program they wish simply by setting \f(CW\*(C`VISUAL\*(C'\fR or \f(CW\*(C`EDITOR\*(C'\fR.
175: .PP
176: \&\fBvisudo\fR parses the \fIsudoers\fR file after the edit and will
177: not save the changes if there is a syntax error. Upon finding
178: an error, \fBvisudo\fR will print a message stating the line number(s)
179: where the error occurred and the user will receive the
180: \&\*(L"What now?\*(R" prompt. At this point the user may enter \*(L"e\*(R"
181: to re-edit the \fIsudoers\fR file, \*(L"x\*(R" to exit without
182: saving the changes, or \*(L"Q\*(R" to quit and save changes. The
183: \&\*(L"Q\*(R" option should be used with extreme care because if \fBvisudo\fR
184: believes there to be a parse error, so will \fBsudo\fR and no one
185: will be able to \fBsudo\fR again until the error is fixed.
186: If \*(L"e\*(R" is typed to edit the \fIsudoers\fR file after a parse error
187: has been detected, the cursor will be placed on the line where the
188: error occurred (if the editor supports this feature).
189: .SH "OPTIONS"
190: .IX Header "OPTIONS"
191: \&\fBvisudo\fR accepts the following command line options:
192: .IP "\-c" 12
193: .IX Item "-c"
194: Enable \fBcheck-only\fR mode. The existing \fIsudoers\fR file will be
195: checked for syntax errors, owner and mode. A message will be printed
196: to the standard output describing the status of \fIsudoers\fR unless
197: the \fB\-q\fR option was specified. If the check completes successfully,
198: \&\fBvisudo\fR will exit with a value of 0. If an error is encountered,
199: \&\fBvisudo\fR will exit with a value of 1.
200: .IP "\-f \fIsudoers\fR" 12
201: .IX Item "-f sudoers"
202: Specify and alternate \fIsudoers\fR file location. With this option
203: \&\fBvisudo\fR will edit (or check) the \fIsudoers\fR file of your choice,
204: instead of the default, \fI@sysconfdir@/sudoers\fR. The lock file used
205: is the specified \fIsudoers\fR file with \*(L".tmp\*(R" appended to it.
206: In \fBcheck-only\fR mode only, the argument to \fB\-f\fR may be \*(L"\-\*(R",
207: indicating that \fIsudoers\fR will be read from the standard input.
208: .IP "\-h" 12
209: .IX Item "-h"
210: The \fB\-h\fR (\fIhelp\fR) option causes \fBvisudo\fR to print a short help message
211: to the standard output and exit.
212: .IP "\-q" 12
213: .IX Item "-q"
214: Enable \fBquiet\fR mode. In this mode details about syntax errors
215: are not printed. This option is only useful when combined with
216: the \fB\-c\fR option.
217: .IP "\-s" 12
218: .IX Item "-s"
219: Enable \fBstrict\fR checking of the \fIsudoers\fR file. If an alias is
220: used before it is defined, \fBvisudo\fR will consider this a parse
221: error. Note that it is not possible to differentiate between an
222: alias and a host name or user name that consists solely of uppercase
223: letters, digits, and the underscore ('_') character.
224: .IP "\-V" 12
225: .IX Item "-V"
226: The \fB\-V\fR (version) option causes \fBvisudo\fR to print its version number
227: and exit.
228: .SH "ENVIRONMENT"
229: .IX Header "ENVIRONMENT"
230: The following environment variables may be consulted depending on
231: the value of the \fIeditor\fR and \fIenv_editor\fR \fIsudoers\fR variables:
232: .ie n .IP "\*(C`VISUAL\*(C'" 16
233: .el .IP "\f(CW\*(C`VISUAL\*(C'\fR" 16
234: .IX Item "VISUAL"
235: Invoked by visudo as the editor to use
236: .ie n .IP "\*(C`EDITOR\*(C'" 16
237: .el .IP "\f(CW\*(C`EDITOR\*(C'\fR" 16
238: .IX Item "EDITOR"
239: Used by visudo if \s-1VISUAL\s0 is not set
240: .SH "FILES"
241: .IX Header "FILES"
242: .ie n .IP "\fI@sysconfdir@/sudoers\fR" 24
243: .el .IP "\fI@sysconfdir@/sudoers\fR" 24
244: .IX Item "@sysconfdir@/sudoers"
245: List of who can run what
246: .ie n .IP "\fI@sysconfdir@/sudoers.tmp\fR" 24
247: .el .IP "\fI@sysconfdir@/sudoers.tmp\fR" 24
248: .IX Item "@sysconfdir@/sudoers.tmp"
249: Lock file for visudo
250: .SH "DIAGNOSTICS"
251: .IX Header "DIAGNOSTICS"
252: .IP "sudoers file busy, try again later." 4
253: .IX Item "sudoers file busy, try again later."
254: Someone else is currently editing the \fIsudoers\fR file.
255: .ie n .IP "@sysconfdir@/sudoers.tmp: Permission denied" 4
256: .el .IP "\f(CW@sysconfdir\fR@/sudoers.tmp: Permission denied" 4
257: .IX Item "@sysconfdir@/sudoers.tmp: Permission denied"
258: You didn't run \fBvisudo\fR as root.
259: .IP "Can't find you in the passwd database" 4
260: .IX Item "Can't find you in the passwd database"
261: Your userid does not appear in the system passwd file.
262: .IP "Warning: {User,Runas,Host,Cmnd}_Alias referenced but not defined" 4
263: .IX Item "Warning: {User,Runas,Host,Cmnd}_Alias referenced but not defined"
264: Either you are trying to use an undeclare {User,Runas,Host,Cmnd}_Alias
265: or you have a user or host name listed that consists solely of
266: uppercase letters, digits, and the underscore ('_') character. In
267: the latter case, you can ignore the warnings (\fBsudo\fR will not
268: complain). In \fB\-s\fR (strict) mode these are errors, not warnings.
269: .IP "Warning: unused {User,Runas,Host,Cmnd}_Alias" 4
270: .IX Item "Warning: unused {User,Runas,Host,Cmnd}_Alias"
271: The specified {User,Runas,Host,Cmnd}_Alias was defined but never
272: used. You may wish to comment out or remove the unused alias. In
273: \&\fB\-s\fR (strict) mode this is an error, not a warning.
274: .IP "Warning: cycle in {User,Runas,Host,Cmnd}_Alias" 4
275: .IX Item "Warning: cycle in {User,Runas,Host,Cmnd}_Alias"
276: The specified {User,Runas,Host,Cmnd}_Alias includes a reference to
277: itself, either directly or through an alias it includes. This is
278: only a warning by default as \fBsudo\fR will ignore cycles when parsing
279: the \fIsudoers\fR file.
280: .SH "SEE ALSO"
281: .IX Header "SEE ALSO"
282: \&\fIvi\fR\|(1), \fIsudoers\fR\|(@mansectform@), \fIsudo\fR\|(@mansectsu@), \fIvipw\fR\|(@mansectsu@)
283: .SH "AUTHOR"
284: .IX Header "AUTHOR"
285: Many people have worked on \fBsudo\fR over the years; this version of
286: \&\fBvisudo\fR was written by:
287: .PP
288: .Vb 1
289: \& Todd Miller
290: .Ve
291: .PP
292: See the \s-1CONTRIBUTORS\s0 file in the \fBsudo\fR distribution
293: (http://www.sudo.ws/sudo/contributors.html) for a list of people
294: who have contributed to \fBsudo\fR.
295: .SH "CAVEATS"
296: .IX Header "CAVEATS"
297: There is no easy way to prevent a user from gaining a root shell if
298: the editor used by \fBvisudo\fR allows shell escapes.
299: .SH "BUGS"
300: .IX Header "BUGS"
301: If you feel you have found a bug in \fBvisudo\fR, please submit a bug report
302: at http://www.sudo.ws/sudo/bugs/
303: .SH "SUPPORT"
304: .IX Header "SUPPORT"
305: Limited free support is available via the sudo-users mailing list,
306: see http://www.sudo.ws/mailman/listinfo/sudo\-users to subscribe or
307: search the archives.
308: .SH "DISCLAIMER"
309: .IX Header "DISCLAIMER"
310: \&\fBvisudo\fR is provided ``\s-1AS\s0 \s-1IS\s0'' and any express or implied warranties,
311: including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability
312: and fitness for a particular purpose are disclaimed. See the \s-1LICENSE\s0
313: file distributed with \fBsudo\fR or http://www.sudo.ws/sudo/license.html
314: for complete details.
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