The sudo ("switch user, do") command allows a user with proper permissions to execute a command as another user. By default, sudo executes commands as root.
sudo [-OPTION] command
| Flag | Description |
|---|---|
-V |
The -V (version) option causes sudo to print the version number and exit. If the invoking user is already root, the -V option prints out a list of the defaults sudo was compiled with and the machine's local network addresses |
-l |
The -l (list) option prints out the commands allowed (and forbidden) the user on the current host. |
-L |
The -L (list defaults) option lists out the parameters set in a Defaults line with a short description for each. This option is useful in conjunction with grep. |
-h |
The -h (help) option causes sudo to print a usage message and exit. |
-v |
If given the -v (validate) option, sudo updates the user's timestamp, prompting for the user's password if necessary. This extends the sudo timeout for another 5 minutes (or whatever the timeout is set to in sudoers) but does not run a command. |
-K |
The -K (sure kill) option to sudo removes the user's timestamp entirely. Likewise, this option does not require a password. |
-u |
The -u (user) option causes sudo to run the specified command as a user other than root. To specify a uid instead of a username, use #uid. |
-s |
The -s (shell) option runs the shell specified by the SHELL environment variable if it's set or the shell as specified in the file passwd. |
-- |
The -- flag indicates that sudo should stop processing command line arguments. It is most useful in conjunction with the -s flag. |