Is it possible to run a cron job which needs the sudo command?
Like:
sudo rm somefile
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Welcome Sayem Siam, Have a look at the answers to this question askubuntu.com/questions/2368/how-do-i-setup-cron-job. as I think your question has been asked before here on AU– stephenmyallAug 9, 2012 at 17:56
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1I am trying to execute sudo which needs password but how can i giv password from cron file– sayem siamAug 9, 2012 at 17:59
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3@sayemsiam you don't need to put sudo, just edit the root crontab.– BraiamDec 6, 2013 at 12:21
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See this answer.– user13975Jan 21, 2018 at 8:31
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5 Answers
I won't get into how much this is a bad idea; simply put, running sudoin crontab requires your password to be stored somewhere in plaintext.
It's a bad idea.
The following is the preferred method of running administrative tasks through cron. Since you don't really need to write sudo in the crontab, if you are modifying root's crontab.
Use root's crontab
Run the following command:
sudo crontab -e
This opens up root's crontab. sudo is not necessary to run your command in this context, since it'll be invoked as root anyway.
Therefore, you would simply append the following to root's crontab.
@hourly rm somefile
Now, if you absolutely want to be unsafe and take risks with your password, the following will run your command from your own crontab, and enter your password automatically when prompted by sudo.
Again, this is not recommended.
In your own crontab, write your command like so:
@hourly echo "password" | sudo -S rm somefile
The obvious disadvantage here is that, should anyone ever access your crontab, your password will be readable in plaintext.
You shouldn't do this.
answered Aug 9, 2012 at 18:03
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2Glad it works! Just be wary of any security holes you leave behind.. They might come back later to haunt you. Aug 9, 2012 at 18:15
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2@SirCharlo Why use
root's user crontab instead of the systemwide crontab/etc/crontab? Aug 10, 2012 at 3:47 -
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4This answer misses the mark because it glosses over the subtleties available in your
sudoersfile, like sudo groups without a password requirement.– brentJan 9, 2018 at 21:13 -
If you are putting the script from one of the cron directories (/etc/cron.*) then you don't need to use sudo as that is running as root.
If you are using crontab, then you will want to use root's crontab. This will run it as root, and also not need sudo.
sudo crontab -e
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1I would also place the command in /etc/cron.hourly/something. That's what these directories are for. Aug 23, 2012 at 15:37
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4No. You could put it in /etc/cron.SOMETHING/SCRIPT, but I wouldn't do both. Both would give roughly the same function, although using crontab you would have a bit more power over how often/when things run.– tgm4883Aug 23, 2012 at 17:40
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2I should have made clear that I meant that as an alternative. Thanks. Aug 23, 2012 at 17:43
Run following command in terminal
sudo visudo
Added the following line to the end of the file:
vidyadhar ALL= NOPASSWD: /bin/rm
In the above example vidyadhar is the username and it will not ask for password if you are running rm command through vidyadhar.
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25Hmm.. Then any malicious command, like
sudo rm -rf 'slash'(don't run that command), run from that user, would require no password.. I don't know, it feels unsafe, no? Aug 9, 2012 at 18:09 -
34
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4Maybe
vidyadhar ALL= NOPASSWD: /bin/rm somefilewould be more secure. Jul 28, 2016 at 8:28 -
2This is a terrible idea. You gave blanket sudo permissions to rm. Instead, give sudo permissions to a script your comand, including rm or others in that script, make it executable, then give sudo permissions to that script.
<username> ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /home/<username>/bin/<script>, which would be much safer.– R JJul 1, 2018 at 11:28 -
2This is not "an extremely bad idea", please stop with the useless hyperbole. Obviously giving a user the same amount of power as root will make it just as dangerous as root. This is perfect for a dedicated backups user, or other user account whos access is as tightly controlled as root.– user630247Oct 23, 2018 at 15:44
Sometimes it is necessary for root to execute a command as a specific user of the system. For example, with borgbackup, it is common to have root check the warehouse using the borg user. if the task must be executed once a day, we will use the /etc/cron.daily folder, like that:
# cat /etc/cron.daily/borgbackup_check
#!/bin/bash
sudo -u borg borg check /borgbackup >> /var/log/borgbackup.log
where "-u borg" is used take the identity of the borg user, "borg" is the borg command and "/borgbackup" is the wharehouse.
Nobody mentioned having an executable script with setuid bit? I can see where this might be a security vulnerability, too (don't cut yourself, sharp knives in this drawer, keep permissions tight), but feels less dicey than working in the root crontab. For instance, I'd like to defrag/fstrim nightly or weekly even when I am not present.
Another alternative is to leave a script running in a loop, sleeping until the time is right, that you launch with sudo.