Using the sudo Command

If a user has been granted sudo access then that user can run administrative commands with elevated privileges:

sudo command

Depending on the sudoer configuration, the user might also be prompted for a password.

Preserving environment variables

In some situations, a user might have set environment variables that they want to reuse or preserve while running elevated commands. They can do this by using the -E option.

Example 6-1 Accessing user proxy settings within a sudo session

For example, if the Oracle Linux system is connected to an enterprise intranet or virtual private network (VPN), proxy settings might be required to obtain outbound Internet access.

Terminal commands rely on the http_proxy, https_proxy and no_proxy environment variables. You can set them in the $HOME/.bashrc configuration file:

export http_proxy=http://proxy.example.com:8080
export https_proxy=https://proxy.example.com:8080
export no_proxy=localhost,127.0.0.1

Run the source command to refresh the session environment variables without signing out:

source $HOME/.bashrc

The sudo command can use the proxy settings that you have configured as environment variables within the user's session. For example, to run the curl command with administrative privileges:

sudo -E curl https://www.example.com

Note:

An administrator can optionally set system-wide proxy environment variables by configuring them in a shell script and then saving that file in the /etc/profile.d/ directory.

For more information about configuring network settings, see Oracle Linux 10: Setting Up Networking With NetworkManager.

Elevating to a root shell

You can also use sudo access to start an elevated root shell. The -s option elevates the user to a root shell as the root user. The -i option elevates the user to a root shell while preserving both the user profile and shell configuration:

sudo -i

Exiting sudo

When you have finished running administrative commands, exit the root shell and return to the standard user privilege level by using the exit command.