August 2011 - WLUG - wlug.mailman3.com

Re: [Wlug] Solved: X apps no longer work with sudo after upgrade to Squeeze

by Theodore Ruegsegger

Jason Couture wrote: > Have you tried using gksudo? Aha! That's the answer. Works fine, no reason to alter /etc/sudoers. Thanks very much! Ted Ruegsegger

Aug. 9, 2011

Re: [Wlug] Solved: X apps no longer work with sudo after upgrade to Squeeze

by Jason Couture

Have you tried using gksudo? This e-mail transmission, including any attachments, is intended only for the named recipient(s) and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you have received this transmission in error, or are not the named recipient(s), please notify the sender immediately by return e-mail and permanently delete this transmission, including any attachments. On Aug 9, 2011 2:12 PM, "Theodore Ruegsegger" <gruntly(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Gregory Avedissian wrote: >> I can't set you straight, and I don't know the security implications, but >> this works: >> >> ssh -X user@remote-host >> su-to-root -X -c <command> >> >> You might be asked for the root password, the user password or neither, >> depending on your setup. > > Hmm...hadn't heard of su-to-root before; thanks. Googling suggests > it's a shell script, though it doesn't seem to be available on my > Ubuntu karmic or the repositories. I did find something called sux > which is an X-preserving wrapper around su. Alas, since I've disabled > the root password, I can't use that. > > I'm a little surprised sudo doesn't have a way of doing this without > security risks, since the maintainers are obviously aware of the issue > and there's enough information in the environment to deduce the > correct .Xauthority. Perhaps in the next release. > > Thanks for the reply, > Ted > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

Aug. 9, 2011

Re: [Wlug] Solved: X apps no longer work with sudo after upgrade to Squeeze

by Theodore Ruegsegger

Gregory Avedissian wrote: > I can't set you straight, and I don't know the security implications, but > this works: > > ssh -X user@remote-host > su-to-root -X -c <command> > > You might be asked for the root password, the user password or neither, > depending on your setup. Hmm...hadn't heard of su-to-root before; thanks. Googling suggests it's a shell script, though it doesn't seem to be available on my Ubuntu karmic or the repositories. I did find something called sux which is an X-preserving wrapper around su. Alas, since I've disabled the root password, I can't use that. I'm a little surprised sudo doesn't have a way of doing this without security risks, since the maintainers are obviously aware of the issue and there's enough information in the environment to deduce the correct .Xauthority. Perhaps in the next release. Thanks for the reply, Ted

Aug. 9, 2011

Re: [Wlug] Solved: X apps no longer work with sudo after upgrade to Squeeze

by Gregory Avedissian

I can't set you straight, and I don't know the security implications, but this works: ssh -X user@remote-host su-to-root -X -c <command> You might be asked for the root password, the user password or neither, depending on your setup. Greg On 08/06/2011 07:40 PM, Theodore Ruegsegger wrote: > Hmm...my diagnosis was flawed. I had written: >> It looks like the newer version of sudo no longer preserves $HOME by >> default... > > It looks like the older version didn't preserve $HOME either; instead > it somehow preserved the .Xauthority information itself. As the > manpage implies, forcing it to preserve $HOME could have some security > implications. If someone knows of a more straightforward solution, > please share! > > Ted Ruegsegger > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug >

Aug. 9, 2011

Re: [Wlug] Reminder: WLUG BBQ: Wednesday, August 10, 6pm

by Chuck Anderson

I have the giant Tux, originally made by Doug Waud. In-Reply-To: <CABmZTj1nKqQebf74eQjoLPGC5ZctSOkoAco1YrvzSJTNi-miZw(a)mail.gmail.com> On Sat, Aug 06, 2011 at 08:01:45PM -0400, E Johnson wrote: > All of the above is correct, except I do not have a Tux Penguin. > A sign affixed to the light pole out front will say 'WLUG' & I will attempt > to draw an image of a Tux-like penguin on it. > > Everyone is welcome. See you then. > Liz J > > On 5 August 2011 22:57, Chuck Anderson <cra(a)wpi.edu> wrote: > > > Hi gang, > > > > The WLUG BBQ is coming up next week, Wednesday, August 10, starting at > > 6pm. Thanks to those who volunteered to bring items, and thanks to > > our hostess Liz Johnson. We'll have hot dogs, burgers, bratwurst, all > > the fixings, some chips/snacks, salad and soda. The grill will be > > fired up if anyone has something else they'd like to grill, and > > desserts would be welcome as well. There will be a cooler or two and > > some ice for BYOB. People should bring a lawn chair for themselves if > > they wish to sit down. Based on past BBQ's, I'm expecting about 15-20 > > people, perhaps more. > > > > The address: > > > > 34 Hudson St, Worcester, MA (It is a green house, one house south of > > Elm St. Elm St runs east/west along Elm Park and Hudson St is one > > block east of Park Ave.) > > > > Look for a "WLUG" sign on the city light pole, as well as a big Tux > > Penguin. If you get lost you can call Liz at 508-471-4407. > > > > Hope to see you there! > > Chuck > > WLUG President

Aug. 7, 2011

Re: [Wlug] Reminder: WLUG BBQ: Wednesday, August 10, 6pm

by E Johnson

All of the above is correct, except I do not have a Tux Penguin. A sign affixed to the light pole out front will say 'WLUG' & I will attempt to draw an image of a Tux-like penguin on it. Everyone is welcome. See you then. Liz J On 5 August 2011 22:57, Chuck Anderson <cra(a)wpi.edu> wrote: > Hi gang, > > The WLUG BBQ is coming up next week, Wednesday, August 10, starting at > 6pm. Thanks to those who volunteered to bring items, and thanks to > our hostess Liz Johnson. We'll have hot dogs, burgers, bratwurst, all > the fixings, some chips/snacks, salad and soda. The grill will be > fired up if anyone has something else they'd like to grill, and > desserts would be welcome as well. There will be a cooler or two and > some ice for BYOB. People should bring a lawn chair for themselves if > they wish to sit down. Based on past BBQ's, I'm expecting about 15-20 > people, perhaps more. > > The address: > > 34 Hudson St, Worcester, MA (It is a green house, one house south of > Elm St. Elm St runs east/west along Elm Park and Hudson St is one > block east of Park Ave.) > > Look for a "WLUG" sign on the city light pole, as well as a big Tux > Penguin. If you get lost you can call Liz at 508-471-4407. > > Hope to see you there! > Chuck > WLUG President > > _______________________________________________ > Wlug mailing list > Wlug(a)mail.wlug.org > http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug > >

Aug. 7, 2011

Re: [Wlug] Solved: X apps no longer work with sudo after upgrade to Squeeze

by Theodore Ruegsegger

Hmm...my diagnosis was flawed. I had written: > It looks like the newer version of sudo no longer preserves $HOME by > default... It looks like the older version didn't preserve $HOME either; instead it somehow preserved the .Xauthority information itself. As the manpage implies, forcing it to preserve $HOME could have some security implications. If someone knows of a more straightforward solution, please share! Ted Ruegsegger

Aug. 6, 2011

Solved: X apps no longer work with sudo after upgrade to Squeeze

by Theodore Ruegsegger

I could have guessed I'd find the answer just after posting, but perhaps this will make it easier for the next googler. I had written: > Summary: After upgrade from Lenny to Squeeze, I can no longer execute > X apps using sudo in an ssh session. Why not, and how can I restore > this ability? A careful reading of the manpage for the /etc/sudoers file (man 5 sudoers) yields this insight, under EXAMPLES: # Run X applications through sudo; HOME is used to find the # .Xauthority file. Note that other programs use HOME to find # configuration files and this may lead to privilege escalation! Defaults env_keep += "DISPLAY HOME" It looks like the newer version of sudo no longer preserves $HOME by default (although, the above notwithstanding, it does keep $DISPLAY). Adding the following line to my /etc/sudoers restored my ability to run X apps via sudo: Defaults env_keep += "HOME" Hope someone else finds this helpful. Ted Ruegsegger

Aug. 6, 2011

X apps no longer work with sudo after upgrade to Squeeze

by Theodore Ruegsegger

Summary: After upgrade from Lenny to Squeeze, I can no longer execute X apps using sudo in an ssh session. Why not, and how can I restore this ability? Details: I just got around to upgrading [1] a server to from Debian Lenny to Debian Squeeze. Normally I access it via ssh with X forwarding so that I can display any X apps on my workstation [2]. I have root logins disabled and use sudo instead when I wish to run an app as root. Under Lenny, I could execute X apps under sudo and they would display just fine, for example: sudo xless some-file [prompts for my password] [xless opens in a window on my workstation] Under Squeeze, the attempt fails with an error message: sudo xless some-file [prompts for my password] X11 connection rejected because of wrong authentication. Error: Can't open display: localhost:10.0 Googling "X forwarding sudo" gives me lots of explanations about .Xauthority and cookies but nothing that explains why I should now need to manage this myself when I didn't need to before. Can anyone set me straight? Ted Ruegsegger __________________________ Notes: [1] More precisely, I didn't dist-upgrade it (that's another story) but installed Squeeze from scratch, preserving the /home partition and repeating my original configuration steps. [2] This server doesn't run a GUI desktop.

Aug. 6, 2011

Reminder: WLUG BBQ: Wednesday, August 10, 6pm

by Chuck Anderson

Hi gang, The WLUG BBQ is coming up next week, Wednesday, August 10, starting at 6pm. Thanks to those who volunteered to bring items, and thanks to our hostess Liz Johnson. We'll have hot dogs, burgers, bratwurst, all the fixings, some chips/snacks, salad and soda. The grill will be fired up if anyone has something else they'd like to grill, and desserts would be welcome as well. There will be a cooler or two and some ice for BYOB. People should bring a lawn chair for themselves if they wish to sit down. Based on past BBQ's, I'm expecting about 15-20 people, perhaps more. The address: 34 Hudson St, Worcester, MA (It is a green house, one house south of Elm St. Elm St runs east/west along Elm Park and Hudson St is one block east of Park Ave.) Look for a "WLUG" sign on the city light pole, as well as a big Tux Penguin. If you get lost you can call Liz at 508-471-4407. Hope to see you there! Chuck WLUG President

Aug. 6, 2011