Applications That Check UIDs and GIDs

Privileged applications that check for root (UID=0) or some other special UID or GID have long existed in the UNIX environment. The rights profile mechanism enables you to isolate commands that require a specific ID. Instead of changing the ID on a command that anyone can access, you can place the command with execution security attributes in a rights profile. A user or role with that rights profile can then run the program without having to become superuser.

IDs can be specified as real or effective. Assigning effective IDs is preferred over assigning real IDs. Effective IDs are equivalent to the setuid feature in the file permission bits. Effective IDs also identify the UID for auditing. However, because some shell scripts and programs require a real UID of root, real UIDs can be set as well. For example, the pkgadd command requires a real rather than an effective UID. If an effective ID is not sufficient to run a command, you need to change the ID to a real ID. For the procedure, see How to Create or Change a Rights Profile.