parses the file after editing and will not save the changes if there is a syntax error. Upon finding an error, will print a message stating the line number(s) where the error occurred and the user will receive the prompt. At this point the user may enter to re-edit the file, to exit without saving the changes, or to quit and save changes. The option should be used with extreme caution because if believes there to be a syntax error, so will If is typed to edit the file after a syntax error has been detected, the cursor will be placed on the line where the error occurred (if the editor supports this feature).
There are two settings that determine which editor will run. A colon
separated list of editors allowed to be used with will choose the editor that matches the user's or environment variable if possible, or the first editor in the list that exists and is executable. does not preserve the or environment variables unless they are present in the list or the option is disabled in the file. The default editor path is
which can be set at compile time via the configure option. If set, will use the value of the or environment variables before falling back on the default editor list. is typically run as root so this option may allow a user with privileges to run arbitrary commands as root without logging. An alternative is to place a colon-separated list of editors in the variable. will then only use or if they match a value specified in If the flag is enabled, the and/or environment variables must be present in the list for the flag to function when is invoked via The default value is which can be set at compile time via the configure option.
The options are as follows: Enable mode. The existing file (and any other files it includes) will be checked for syntax errors. If the path to the file was not specified, will also check the file ownership and permissions (see the and options). A message will be printed to the standard output describing the status of unless the option was specified. If the check completes successfully, will exit with a value of 0. If an error is encountered, will exit with a value of 1. Specify an alternate file location, see below. As of version 1.8.27, the path can be specified without using the option. Display a short help message to the standard output and exit. Enforce the default ownership (user and group) of the file. In edit mode, the owner of the edited file will be set to the default. In check mode
an error will be reported if the owner is incorrect. This option is enabled by default if the file was not specified. Enforce the default permissions (mode) of the file. In edit mode, the permissions of the edited file will be set to the default. In check mode
an error will be reported if the file permissions are incorrect. This option is enabled by default if the file was not specified. Enable mode. In this mode details about syntax errors are not printed. This option is only useful when combined with the option. Enable checking of the file. If an alias is referenced but not actually defined or if there is a cycle in an alias, will consider this a syntax error. It is not possible to differentiate between an alias and a host name or user name that consists solely of uppercase letters, digits, and the underscore
character. Print the and grammar versions and exit.
A file may be specified instead of the default,
The temporary file used is the specified file with appended to it. In mode only, may be used to indicate that will be read from the standard input. Because the policy is evaluated in its entirety, it is not sufficient to check an individual include file for syntax errors. versions 1.8.4 and higher support a flexible debugging framework that is configured via lines in the file.
Starting with 1.8.12, will also parse the arguments to the plugin to override the default path name, user-ID, group-ID, and file mode. These arguments, if present, should be listed after the path to the plugin (i.e., after
Multiple arguments may be specified, separated by white space. For example: Plugin sudoers_policy sudoers.so sudoers_mode=0400
The following arguments are supported: The argument can be used to override the default path to the file. The argument can be used to override the default owner of the sudoers file. It should be specified as a numeric user-ID. The argument can be used to override the default group of the sudoers file. It must be specified as a numeric group-ID (not a group name). The argument can be used to override the default file mode for the sudoers file. It should be specified as an octal value.
For more information on configuring refer to its manual. The following environment variables may be consulted depending on the value of the and settings: Invoked by as the editor to use Used by if is not set Used by if neither nor is set Sudo front-end configuration List of who can run what Default temporary file used by visudo In addition to reporting syntax errors, may produce the following messages: Someone else is currently editing the file. You didn't run as root. Your user-ID does not appear in the system passwd database. Either you are trying to use an undeclared {User,Runas,Host,Cmnd}_Alias or you have a user or host name listed that consists solely of uppercase letters, digits, and the underscore
character. In the latter case, you can ignore the warnings
will not complain
The message is prefixed with the path name of the file and the line number where the undefined alias was used. In (strict) mode these are errors, not warnings. The specified {User,Runas,Host,Cmnd}_Alias was defined but never used. The message is prefixed with the path name of the file and the line number where the unused alias was defined. You may wish to comment out or remove the unused alias. The specified {User,Runas,Host,Cmnd}_Alias includes a reference to itself, either directly or through an alias it includes. The message is prefixed with the path name of the file and the line number where the cycle was detected. This is only a warning unless is run in (strict) mode as will ignore cycles when parsing the file. The file contains a setting not recognized by Many people have worked on over the years; this version consists of code written primarily by:
See the CONTRIBUTORS.md file in the distribution (https://www.sudo.ws/about/contributors/) for an exhaustive list of people who have contributed to There is no easy way to prevent a user from gaining a root shell if the editor used by allows shell escapes. If you believe you have found a bug in you can submit a bug report at https://bugzilla.sudo.ws/ Limited free support is available via the sudo-users mailing list, see https://www.sudo.ws/mailman/listinfo/sudo-users to subscribe or search the archives. is provided and any express or implied warranties, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose are disclaimed. See the LICENSE.md file distributed with or https://www.sudo.ws/about/license/ for complete details.