gksudo without sudo

[Darryl Clarke]

On 09/02/06, Tom Smith <tom71713-ubuntu at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> Darryl Clarke wrote:
>
> >On 09/02/06, Tom Smith <tom71713-ubuntu at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> >
> >>I'm a bit new to Ubuntu so I wanted to discuss this here before
> >>submitting bug reports or whatnot...
> >>
> >>I performed an "expert" install to minimize the number of packages that
> >>were installed in the "Desktop" setup. Doing so, sudo wasn't configured
> >>by default--that is, I was prompted for and entered a root password and
> >>no accounts (other than root) were added to sudoers.
> >>
> >>The problem is that when running Synaptics, for example, from the Gnome
> >>menu (as a non-root user), I'm unable to access it--it's using gksudo to
> >>launch. Many other admin-related menu entries are doing the same thing.
> >>If I run the same command from the command line using gksu it works
> >>fine--for example, I'd execute "gksu synaptics" and it would load after
> >>I entered the root password.
> >>
> >>The fix is simple... I just needed to add myself to sudoers and gksudo
> >>began working.
> >>
> >>I don't fully understand Ubuntu's security architecture yet so I'm not
> >>sure if this is expected behavior or an oversight. With the way the
> >>system (Gnome, mainly) is currently configured, it requires that one
> >>configure sudo in order to run any of the admin apps from the Gnome menus.
> >>
> >>Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
> >>
> >>
> >
> >It would be that 'expert' (server) mode:
> >
> >a) isn't expecting to install the gui/desktop env.; which has all
> >Admin launchers configured to use gksudo, as per the normal Ubuntu
> >sudo behaviour.
> >
> >b) is expecting you to understand Ubuntu's security arch. and know
> >that you have to add your real user (and any others who should have
> >admin rights) to the admin group. (you actually don't have to touch
> >the sudoers file, unless you are specifying different rules)
> >
> >--
> >~ Darryl  ~ smartssa at gmail.com
> >~ http://darrylclarke.com
> >
> >
> With all due respect...
>
> I think it's a bad assumption to say that sudo /is not/ configured in
> "server-expert" for no other reason than no GUI is going to be
> installed--if this were the case, why would sudo be configured during a
> standard "server" install?
>
> Further, I do have a default Ubuntu "Desktop" configuration (expert) and
> the only "admin" group I have is "adm"--of which my account has been a
> member, and I created my account during the installation. Despite this,
> neither gksudo nor sudo worked *until* I configured sudoers.


There are two paths the installer takes:
1 - expert/server - gives you a root login and password
2 - normal/desktop - gives you a user account and sudo configured.

The keyword in this of course is in fact _expert_.

You went the path of the expert.  At which point Ubuntu stops holding
your hand and lets you configure everything how you like.  It's not
going to turn around and say "oh, you installed a desktop, I should've
setup sudoers. I'll do it now in case you forget."

Clearly, you are expert enough to have figured it out.

--
~ Darryl  ~ smartssa at gmail.com
~ http://darrylclarke.com