On Tue, 2014-04-29 at 12:20 -0700, ToddAndMargo wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> I have a bash script that need to be run as root.
> In the script, I check to see if it is running as
> root and flag the user to run appropriately.
> 
> Is there a way to use "su" to prompt for the password
> and continue the script if successful? (I would test for
> $? after the prompt.)
> 
> Currently "su" will just open a new shell as root.
> 
> I can run a command inside "su", but what about the
> other 200 lines of code?  :'(

An interesting problem :-)

Something like this seems to work but I haven't thought through
the consequences of it, so be aware:

-----cut here-----
#!/bin/sh

this_script=$(basename $0)

if [ $(id -u) -ne 0 ]
then
  echo "Enter root's password"
  su -c ./$this_script
  exit
fi

echo "Hello world"
echo "Running as $(id -u)"
-----cut here-----

You probably need to do something with $PATH to obviate the
need for the "./" on the su line.