Tell me more ×
Super User is a question and answer site for computer enthusiasts and power users. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 1 down vote favorite

I need git user to run

chgrp -R www-data linode.git/
chmod -R 770 linode.git/

as root. Only these two commands and only for git user. How can I do that?

share|improve this question

2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

Add git to sudoers using visudo. The lines you should add will look something like this:

git hostname = (root) NOPASSWD: /bin/chgrp -R www-data /path/to/linode.git/, /bin/chmod -R 770 /path/to/linode.git/
share|improve this answer
I used joe to edit the sudoer file. I hope that's fine. When I run the chgrp command I get this error chgrp: changing group of linode.git/objects/pack': Operation not permitted`. If I run the comman as root it works. – Radek Nov 18 '10 at 0:53
@Radek: You should do EDITOR=joe sudo visudo. If you don't use visudo bad things could happen (see man visudo). Are you doing sudo -u git chgrp ... when logged in as yourself or sudo chgrp ... as the user "git"? In either case, you have to use sudo. – Dennis Williamson Nov 18 '10 at 3:00
@Dennis Williamson: if I copy the line you gave me into sudoers I get this error on saving. >>> /etc/sudoers: syntax error near line 18 <<< – Radek Nov 18 '10 at 3:20
strange but this one works git ALL=(root) NOPASSWD: /bin/chgrp – Radek Nov 18 '10 at 3:32
I strongly recommend using full paths for all file or directory references in the sudo string. E.g '/bin/chgrp -r www-data /var/local/linode.git/' – Slartibartfast Nov 18 '10 at 5:24
show 1 more comment
up vote 1 down vote

I recommend using super, a handy tool which is basically setuid but you can limit it to certain users or groups.
I'm actually using it for this exact purpose.

share|improve this answer

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.