Console Commands (Solved)

[MALsPa]

Who says you can't be root with a persistent live session on a key? o)

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 ________________________________________
( Celebrate Hannibal Day this year. Take )
( an elephant to lunch.                  )
 ----------------------------------------
  o
   o
       ___  
     {~._.~}
      ( Y )
     ()~*~()   
     (_)-(_) 
  
mint mint # whoami
root
mint mint # ls
Desktop  Documents  Downloads  Music  Pictures  Public  Templates  Videos

mint mint # cd /
mint / # ls
bin   cdrom  etc   initrd.img  media  opt   rofs  sbin     srv  tmp  var
boot  dev    home  lib         mnt    proc  root  selinux  sys  usr  vmlinuz
mint / #
 

Done by generating a root console launcher with gnome-terminal -e 'sudo - su'
Whether I can actually DO anything remains to be be seen - best not mess around
in root.

You might want to check out the RootSudo page at the Ubuntu Documentation, if you haven't already.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo

Including the area "Special notes on sudo and shells."

There I found a link to this table, which might (or might not) explain some things:

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Here is a summary:
Code:

				                     corrupted by user's 
		HOME=/root	uses root's PATH     env vars
sudo -i		Y		Y[2]                 N
sudo -s		N		Y[2]                 Y
sudo bash	N		Y[2]                 Y
sudo su		Y		N[1]                 Y


[1] PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games
    probably set by /etc/environment
[2] PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin

The bottom line, is "sudo -i" is the proper command to run when you want a root shell that is untainted by the user's environment.

When I was trying to recreate what you were seeing, to get a root prompt I simply opened a terminal and used the following:

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sudo -i

You used a launcher with:

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gnome-terminal -e 'sudo - su'

According to the table above, it could make a difference in the results of your commands.

I really prefer to stick with the recommendations in Ubuntu's RootSudo documentation and simply use sudo or gksudo when I need root access, but I guess there's no reason you can't use one of those other commands to get yourself a root prompt.

[gn2]

Who says you can't be root with a persistent live session on a key?

I've no idea who would say that, I know it wasn't me.

[Cheemag]

Who says you can't be root with a persistent live session on a key? o)

You might want to check out the RootSudo page at the Ubuntu Documentation, if you haven't already.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo

Including the area "Special notes on sudo and shells."

There I found a link to this table, which might (or might not) explain some things:

Code: Select all

Here is a summary:
Code:

				                     corrupted by user's 
		HOME=/root	uses root's PATH     env vars
sudo -i		Y		Y[2]                 N
sudo -s		N		Y[2]                 Y
sudo bash	N		Y[2]                 Y
sudo su		Y		N[1]                 Y


[1] PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games
    probably set by /etc/environment
[2] PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin

The bottom line, is "sudo -i" is the proper command to run when you want a root shell that is untainted by the user's environment.

When I was trying to recreate what you were seeing, to get a root prompt I simply opened a terminal and used the following:

Code: Select all

sudo -i

You used a launcher with:

Code: Select all

gnome-terminal -e 'sudo - su'

According to the table above, it could make a difference in the results of your commands.

I really prefer to stick with the recommendations in Ubuntu's RootSudo documentation and simply use sudo or gksudo when I need root access, but I guess there's no reason you can't use one of those other commands to get yourself a root prompt.

The only reason for everything that's been happening is that, as a user of Mint on a
key drive, there is no way you can become root as you are running a live session and
not a full install.

Using the custom launcher works sometimes, but you can't actually do anything
root-like.

The system on a key drive with persistence is like that on a live-CD with the exception that
it saves your settings on closing. I have EMailed Pendrive Linux and they confirm this is the case.
I did not realise this and thought that I had an installed system.

For me it's a matter now of deciding whether to continue this way or to seek some other
method of doing a full install.

Thank you for your interest.

[Cheemag]

What am I to make of this nonsense:

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mint ~ # cd /
bash: cd /: No such file or directory
mint ~ # cd usr/bin
bash: cd usr/bin: No such file or directory
mint ~ # 

I know damn well that there is such a directory as /usr/bin !  Why can't I cd to it?

Also:  very often I issue a command without parameters, to be told to goto  <command> --help ... On doing so, I'm there's no
such command!!!!

Confused!