Doing administration tasks without administrative privileges.
2
votes
1answer
136 views
Fedora16, ekiga just works in superuser mode
I've got a fedora16 running and I'd like to use ekiga as a softphone.
Now I'm running into some problems.
Starting ekiga as a normal user gives me
could not register (globally not acceptable)
...
13
votes
3answers
3k views
Why can't a normal user `chown` a file?
Why is the chown command root-only?
Why can't non-root users use chown to give away files they own?
1
vote
1answer
48 views
Virtual Python installation not allowing ez_setup?
I don't have root on my system, so I'm trying to create a virtual Python installation. I ran virtual-python.py, and it told me to run ez_setup.py. I found it online and ran it with the command ...
1
vote
1answer
57 views
LAMP Server setup for personal development
I am setting up a LAMP server in VirtualBox for personal development. This will be an Ubuntu Server 12.04 install, and I will be using Virtual Hosts for Drupal, Yii, and other small PHP apps. Ideally ...
1
vote
1answer
24 views
How to open a program as another user inside a logged display?
I'm trying to open netbeans as a different user, but isn't working.
I'm running a Kubuntu 12.04 LTS with KDE.
And I tried the following:
Open a terminal, type su - myotheruser, type the myotheruser ...
6
votes
2answers
86 views
Installing a package locally to a user - best practices?
I want to install Git locally to a user on a RHEL server (I don't have root access)
What would be your cleanest/ most organized way of installing software to a local user account?
Installing ...
3
votes
2answers
206 views
Installing gcc without root?
I'm running OSX, and I don't have root, or an existing compiler. Is there any way I can install gcc?
Are there official or trusted unofficial mach-o binaries that can be downloaded for a certain ...
3
votes
2answers
49 views
How can a user restrict their own group rights without being root?
How can I change my user rights from rwx to r-x at the group level? I'm trying to ensure that I cannot touch any data belonging to other users when I am developing and debugging my scripts. Once I've ...
1
vote
0answers
61 views
How to create rootfs for user mode linux on Fedora 18?
I want to create a rootfs to be used with a uml kernel and be able to use the internet. I was using febootstrap with packages: bash, coreutils, net-tools, iputils. After using ...
2
votes
1answer
74 views
How to achieve the effect of chroot in userspace in Linux (without being root)?
The goal is to install and run programs in a displaced (relocated) distro (whose / must not coincide with the global /) inside a host Linux system. The programs are not adapted for using a different / ...
2
votes
1answer
54 views
How to set up a script to run as root non-interactively?
I need to set up the following script to run as root whenever I log in:
#!/bin/zsh
truncate -s 0 ~yourstruly/.juniper_networks/network_connect/ncsvc.log
I know how to run the script as root ...
1
vote
2answers
267 views
Redhat: non-root user needs to copy files to a NFS share
Typically non-root users cannot mount directories.
Running Redhat
Have 6GB tar.gz (/dir/somefile.tar.gz)
Need to move to a NFS share on another box (//somebox/somefolder/)
We have no other access. ...
3
votes
3answers
82 views
Where are userspace programs supposed to save their logs?
I am writing a script that I want to run without privileges. I want the errors that the script encounters to be logged to some log file. I do not not have privileges to write one to /var/log. And I do ...
22
votes
4answers
6k views
Can I create a user-specific hosts file to complement /etc/hosts?
Is it possible to add a list of hosts that are only specific to a certain user? Perhaps a user-specific hosts file?
This mechanism should also complement the entries in the /etc/hosts file.
5
votes
1answer
308 views
How can I make this daemon/init run as a non root user?
I have an init script to kick off a daemon. The problem is it runs as root. I would like it to run as a user called "deploy". Ubuntu 12.04
#! /bin/sh
# File: /etc/init.d/unicorn
### BEGIN INIT ...
0
votes
1answer
63 views
Single-user binary installation location?
I'd like to install a binary for only my user, because I don't have root, and therefore don't have access to /usr/bin. I've tried ~/bin, and it can't find the binary. I'm on Mac OS 10.6.7. Is there ...
2
votes
1answer
44 views
How might I detect memory errors if I do not have root or physical access to a Linux system?
The background to my question is as follows. I currently rent a virtual private server from a major hosting company, which I use to run a minecraft server. I have a suspicion that there may be bad ...
3
votes
1answer
76 views
update-alternatives just for one user
I'm using a shared server.
On that server different versions of Java are installed:
Selection Path Priority Status
...
12
votes
3answers
2k views
How to “jail” a process without being root?
Were I root, I could simply create a dummy user/group, set file permissions accordingly and execute the process as that user. However I am not, so is there any way to achieve this without being root?
4
votes
1answer
155 views
Completely disable GNOME for my user in Ubuntu
At the office we've been issued laptops with Ubuntu pre-installed. Unity is of course the OS default, but KDE is available. I prefer KDE and so have set KDM and KDE as my defaults. However some GNOME ...
1
vote
1answer
194 views
Block Internet Connection through Terminal on OSX
Even though I don't have administrative privileges, can I block Internet connection on my Mac OS 10.8 machine, through the terminal?
I want to do this because I am too lazy to disconnect ethernet ...
2
votes
1answer
77 views
Compile a program without sudo access
I am connected to a linux system with SSH in my college. I found that ctorrent is a console alternative of bitorrent. I have downloaded the tar.gz source but to compile/install it needs sudo access
...
2
votes
1answer
152 views
dhclient for normal (non-root) users
Calling dhclient as root works beautifully on my debian machine. However, I would like to allow some users to execute dhclient, too. So far, I have tried these two examples:
Example 1: When a normal ...
0
votes
2answers
65 views
Is there any way of prompt a message when a command in /usr/sbin/ is tried to run as nonroot?
In most Linux distros I've used when you type for example ifconfig as a normal user, you get a prompt message telling you that only root can execute such command.
In Debian, it only says command not ...
2
votes
5answers
908 views
Create new linux account as a user without root access
Is it possible to create a non-root Linux user account without being logged in as a root user and without using sudo?
5
votes
4answers
2k views
Apt-get autocompletion
I am currently running 64-bit Debian Wheezy.
I am having some trouble with auto completion for apt-get. I have bash-completion installed.
If I am logged in as root in a shell, I can use auto ...
1
vote
2answers
154 views
Get a list of users with access to the host
I tried to go into /home and list all the subdirectories but it seems that all dirs that are not mine are hidden. I also tried cat /etc/passwd but that didn't list my very own ID I was logged in ...
3
votes
2answers
663 views
Creating an user without a password
I'm trying to create user without password like this:
sudo adduser \
--system \
--shell /bin/bash \
--gecos ‘User for managing of git version control’ \
--group \
--disabled-password \
...
3
votes
2answers
118 views
manage unix user settings across multiple machines
I have many different linux machines with similar "profiles". I want to keep my settings in sync. e.g vimrc, zshrc,. I have the problem that they are various distributions of Linux with various setups ...
10
votes
6answers
4k views
Can I create override dns similar to writing in /etc/hosts without root access
I want to set a dns record that my browser will use, but I don't have root access, so I can't modify /etc/hosts. I need to do this for testing vhosts with apache, whose dns hasn't yet been set up. I ...
2
votes
2answers
944 views
Using startx on Fedora 17, a non-root user cannot join new wireless networks — how to fix?
I have Fedora 17 installed on a Lenovo X230, and if I leave it configured to boot into Gnome using systemd's runlevel5.target (or graphical.target), which is the default, networking seems to work just ...
0
votes
2answers
796 views
Avoid asking password if `su -m user command` is used under `user`?
If I run the script containing su -m user service userservice start under root user, I do not need to enter the password. But when I run it under user user, it asks passwords all the time. That really ...
1
vote
1answer
205 views
Trying to install fonts on Linux Mint Lisa, but it looks like I have a permissions or ownership problem
I downloaded the Source Code Pro family of fonts, but cannot install them via the Font Viewer. If I give myself admin powers, I can manually add them to the rest of the fonts, so I'm guessing it's a ...
2
votes
1answer
176 views
Being not admin user how to install local GCC instead of provided?
So I came into my classrom Debian is installed, and gcc 4.1. I want to install (compile from sources is an option - I have time..) for my self GCC 4.7 and adress it in bash as gcc anywhere. Is such ...
1
vote
1answer
173 views
Is there a light HTTP proxy I can run without root privileges?
I am on a network where outgoing port 8080 is blocked on most machines (i.e. I cannot access services on port 8080).
Some of the machines on the network however do not have this restriction.
I would ...
2
votes
4answers
418 views
Allow paswordless user to change to another passwordless user
I have two users dev and tomcat neither of them have a password.
How can I allow dev 1 do su - tomcat without having him having to enter any credentials?
1 connects with ssh keyfile
3
votes
1answer
222 views
Route incoming network requests for a given port to different applications
I have an application that listens for connections on a port, but I occasionally take it down for updates and the like. I'd like a way to configure the system such that if that program is running, ...
1
vote
0answers
437 views
Installing Chrome on 64bit Gentoo without Superuser Access
For a bit of background, I am trying to install Chrome (or Chromium) on to a gentoo user account at my university. We are allowed to install software as we like, however we lack superuser access ...
1
vote
1answer
241 views
How to get list of available wireless networks without being root
I would like to get a list of all the wireless networks.
iwlist wlan0 scan | grep ESSID
This will only show me the wireless network I am currently connected to. When I run the command as root, it ...
6
votes
1answer
164 views
How do DE's call ACPI functions?
Okay, first off, this is not a problem I am facing, but I would like to understand this better.
If I wish to shutdown / reboot my machine from the command line I need to call:
$ sudo poweroff
$ sudo ...
3
votes
1answer
2k views
Samba mount with password prompt as non-root user
I want to mount a password-protected SMB share (served by a Windows machine). The share is protected by a user name and password, and I may not write the password in a file, I want to be prompted for ...
2
votes
3answers
605 views
Is there a linux vfs tool that allows bind a directory in different location (like mount --bind) in user space?
For a user process, I want to mount a directory in other location but in user space without root privilieges. Something like mount --bind /origin /dest, but with a vfs wrapper. Like a usermode ...
4
votes
2answers
379 views
umount an external ntfs drive as non-root
I have ntfs-3g installed, and use this udev rule to auto mount external drives automatically. When I try umount it as non-root, it says:
umount: /media/umm is not in the fstab (and you are not root)
...
2
votes
0answers
136 views
How should I go about setting up vim-pathogen plug-ins for a group as a user with no root permissions?
I do not have root permission on a linux cluster, but I would like to share my vim-plugins to all other members of a linux group using vim-pathogen. We have a group-accessible folder, so that's where ...
2
votes
1answer
64 views
'Distribution' to install in home directory (on older Linux) [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Non-Root Package Managers
I'm stuck with a pretty old Linux distribution at work (Centos 5.4 from the end of 2009), and also don't have root access. If I want to use ...
2
votes
1answer
70 views
Running a program without the assistance of the system administrator
I have an rpm for a program called KDirStat that I would like to run on a machine where I am not the system administrator. My questions are:
Can I install this rpm package without the assistance of ...
4
votes
2answers
3k views
How to install program locally without sudo privileges?
Assume I have ssh access to some Ubuntu server as user and I need some not system tools to be installed for convenience (mc, rtorrent, mcedit). I do not want to bother admins for these small programs. ...
21
votes
7answers
2k views
Non-Root Package Managers
From my research, I seem to notice that all package managers insist on being used as a privileged user and must be installed into /.
Typically, what I like to do is create a throwaway account, ...
4
votes
1answer
557 views
Where should a local executable be placed?
I have an executable for the perforce version control client (p4). I can't place it in /opt/local because I don't have root privileges. Is there a standard location where it needs to be placed under ...
5
votes
3answers
3k views
How to get dmidecode information without root privileges?
I'm writing a program that displays various system information (on a CentOS system). For example, the processor type and speed (from /proc/cpuinfo), the last boot time (calculated from /proc/uptime), ...
