visudo(8)              MAINTENANCE COMMANDS             visudo(8)


NAME
       visudo - edit the sudoers file



SYNOPSIS
       visudo [ -V ]

DESCRIPTION
       visudo edits the sudoers file in a safe fashion, analogous
       to vipw(8).  visudo locks the sudoers file against
       multiple simultaneous edits, provides basic sanity checks,
       and checks for parse errors.  If the sudoers file is
       currently being edited you will receive a message to try
       again later.  In the default configuration, the vi(1)
       editor is used, but there is a compile time option to
       allow use of whatever editor the environmental variables
       EDITOR or VISUAL are set to.

       visudo parses the sudoers file after the edit and will not
       save the changes if there is a syntax error.  Upon finding
       an error, a message will be printed stating the line
       number(s) that the error occurred on and the user will
       receive the "What now?" prompt.  At this point the user
       may enter "e" to re-edit the sudoers file, enter "x" to
       exit without saving the changes, or "Q" to quit and save
       changes.  The "Q" option should be used with extreme care
       because if visudo believes there to be a parse error, so
       will sudo and no one will be able to execute sudo again
       until the error is fixed.  Any other command at this
       prompt will print a short help message.  When editing the
       sudoers file after a parse error has been detected the
       cursor will be placed on the line where the error occurred
       (if the editor supports this feature).

OPTIONS
       visudo accepts the following command line option:

       -V  The -V (version) option causes visudo to print the
           version number and exit.

ERRORS
       sudoers file busy, try again later.
           Either someone is currently editing the sudoers file
           or there is a stale sudoers lock file (/etc/stmp by
           default) that you need to delete.

       /etc/stmp: Permission denied
           You didn't run visudo as root.

       Can't find you in the passwd database
           Your userid does not appear in the passwd file.

FILES
        /etc/sudoers           file of authorized users.
        /etc/stmp              lock file for visudo.



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visudo(8)              MAINTENANCE COMMANDS             visudo(8)


ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
       The following are used only if visudo was compiled with
       the ENV_EDITOR option:

        EDITOR                 Used by visudo as the editor to use.
        VISUAL                 Used by visudo if EDITOR is not set.


AUTHOR
       Many people have worked on sudo over the years, this
       version of visudo was written by:

        Todd Miller            <Todd.Miller@courtesan.com>

       See the HISTORY file in the sudo distribution for more
       details.

       Please send all bugs, comments, and changes to sudo-
       bugs@courtesan.com.

DISCLAIMER
       This program is distributed in the hope that it will be
       useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied
       warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
       PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License for more
       details.

       You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public
       License along with this program; if not, write to the Free
       Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA
       02139, USA.

CAVEATS
       Due to the syntax of the sudoers file, there is no way for
       visudo to tell the difference between a mistyped
       {Host,User,Cmnd}_Alias and a user or host name.

       There is no easy way to prevent a user from gaining a root
       shell if the editor used by visudo allows shell escapes.

BUGS
       The -V flag gives the version of the sudo package rather
       than the individual visudo program.

SEE ALSO
       sudo(8), vipw(8).











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visudo(8)              MAINTENANCE COMMANDS             visudo(8)



























































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