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Mainly I am looking for a way to pin an application to the Unity launch bar, and run it as root.

Currently, even if I start the application with sudo, and pin it after it starts, it will start as current user next time.

Sad, but there is no context menu option "run as ...".

Update: I switched to gnome3 and now I'm happy, I'm missing only the search.

sorin
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    If you know the risk of running graphical apps as root and still want to continue then follow step 1 here: http://askubuntu.com/a/118483/41562 – edm Apr 04 '12 at 10:31
  • You did not understand the question, I know how to use sudo and I already tunned it. The question is about how can I create a shortcut to Ubuntu Unity launcher to app that I want to run as root. – sorin Apr 04 '12 at 11:40
  • For unity launcher, I don't know. But if you have a file residing on your desktop and you want to run it as gksu, then you can install "nautilus execute" extension. – Curious Apprentice Mar 24 '13 at 10:28

11 Answers11

100

If you want the app to always run as root

  1. Pin the application to the launcher as normal.

  2. Locate the applications .desktop file which will be in either:

    • /usr/share/applications/APPNAME.desktop
    • ~/.local/share/applications/APPNAME.desktop
    • or somewhere else, use locate .desktop|grep APPAME

  3. Open with gedit:

    gksudo gedit /usr/share/applications/APPNAME.desktop

  4. Then change the line

    Exec=APP_COMMAND

    to 

    Exec=gksudo -k -u root APP_COMMAND

  5. Save

This command will also keep your environment which is very usefull if you need to connect to others servers and use your private key.

To add a quicklist option to 'Run as root'

Follow steps 1, 2 and 3 above

If the launcher currently doesn't have any other quicklist options, just append this to the end of the document

X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=Runroot

[Runroot Shortcut Group]
Name=Run as root
Exec=gksudo -k -u root APP_COMMAND
TargetEnvironment=Unity
wjandrea
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edm
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    Why is it so extremely complicated to set a simple Shortcut ? What wrong with the creators of ubuntu ? – Sliq Dec 13 '12 at 09:36
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    I did step 1-5 and application asks for password, but won't launch. – user1880405 Aug 18 '14 at 08:57
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    for gksudo command, you have to install sudo apt-get install gksu – Arul Jul 08 '15 at 16:30
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    @Sliq its called security... Having a desktop icon that is executed as root without needing a password... is very dangerous... To me this is actually the joy of linux... If i wanted an easy life.. i would be using windows as my main system... – Angry 84 Mar 03 '16 at 01:03
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    I thought the point of Ubuntu was to make things easy. There seems to be an inconsistency dilemma. I have a hard time taking this distro seriously because of it. – Nuzzolilo Mar 28 '16 at 19:55
  • @user1880405 Have you replaced APP_COMMAND ? – yohannan_sobin Dec 08 '16 at 06:27
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    @sliq "Why is it so difficult to grep from cmd prompt? what is wrong with the creators of Windows?" - Creators of Ubuntu... probably – thenaglecode Jan 26 '17 at 23:30
  • @Nuzzolilo Ubuntu was supposed to make things easy compared to other linux distros, not compared to windows. – Syakur Rahman Mar 31 '18 at 09:51
  • @SyakurRahman What does windows have to do with this? Note that I said "this distro" and not "this OS", implying that I find other distros easier to use, which I very much do. Ubuntu's complexity and maintenance-rot with the many cascading layers of dependencies is to blame. – Nuzzolilo Apr 15 '18 at 02:46
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    outdated for Ubuntu 18.XX Can someone provide an updated solution? – JRsz Jun 18 '18 at 12:07
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    Unable to locate package gksudo - Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS – 8bitjunkie Feb 27 '19 at 15:42
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    I would also like to chime in to find out if there is an alternative method now that the gksu package has been deprecated (and removed) in favor of GVFS? – Michael Schlottke-Lakemper May 02 '19 at 09:25
  • @MichaelSchlottke-Lakemper Same here. It makes the answer deprecated too... An update is definitely needed. – Silidrone Aug 22 '20 at 12:59
8

As this is an old question, with an old answer; To complement @edm's amazing explanation.

As of Ubuntu 18.04 and later, gksudo (gksu) is deprecated and so, it does not have an install candidate in the official repositories. An alternative is to use pkexec.

Edit the file /usr/share/applications/APPNAME.desktop and change the line

Exec=APP_COMMAND

to

Exec=pkexec env DISPLAY=$DISPLAY XAUTHORITY=$XAUTHORITY APP_COMMAND

More details on pkexec here.

pedromendessk
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    this causes a password prompt but doesn't then launch the program for me. /usr/bin/nvidia-settings is the prog, FWIW. – dez93_2000 Mar 25 '20 at 18:36
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    agreed with dez, this seemed really promising but didn't launch the app. Where do the logs go? – tom Dec 21 '21 at 13:56
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    @tom @dez93_2000 @pedromendessk You can wrap the whole EXEC_COMMAND in /bin/sh -c "EXEC_COMMAND". Or written out, the line would be Exec=/bin/sh -c "pkexec env DISPLAY=$DISPLAY XAUTHORITY=$XAUTHORITY APP_COMMAND". This seems like the least invasive method. – Dunkelkoon Jan 19 '22 at 21:13
5

In the Main Menu under System, Preferences, type gksudo in the Command field of Launcher Properties, e.g.:

/usr/bin/gksudo /usr/bin/yourapplication

Your Name field might say:

sudo yourapplication

So users know they may see a password popup and why...

I am not sure about Unity Launcher vs Main Menu. Maybe this helps?

Good luck

Eliah Kagan
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boolship
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    You probably know that straight sudo shouldn't be used to run graphical applications as root--after all, you are using gksudo (which is one of the good ways). For the same reason, it is inadvisable to use sudo in the name field the way you have, because doing so (1) creates the impression among sufficiently experienced users that your launcher is incorrectly made, and (2) creates the impression among less experienced users that it is OK to use straight sudo to run graphical applications as root. – Eliah Kagan Jun 25 '12 at 00:23
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    Unable to locate package gksudo - Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS – 8bitjunkie Feb 27 '19 at 15:41
2

The following seems to do the same thing, without needing private attributes:

Actions=Runroot;Another

[Desktop Action Runroot]
Name=Run as root
Exec=gksudo -k -u root APP_COMMAND

[Desktop Action Another]
Name=Another action
Exec=whatever
Daniel
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2

As a quick and simple alternative to the cumbersome demands described in the answers here, I've gotten in the habit of doing the following...

  1. Launch a new terminal.

  2. Enter gksu nautilus

    (sudo -i nautilus works, too.)

The resulting window falls under the sudo umbrella, so you can use it to access and launch files with sudo-root privileges to your heart's content until it closes. This comes in handy for transitory situations where you don't need a more permanent solution. I use it routinely to extract compressed files into protected system folders, for instance.

Syndog
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    Using sudo with graphical applications is *NOT* a good idea. Use gksu or if you must sudo -i. – Seth Feb 20 '14 at 17:05
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    @Seth: Updated. Also... A little explanation as to why would not be remiss, rather than just cryptically saying it's not a good idea. – Syndog Feb 20 '14 at 19:34
  • An interesting thread on the topic : http://crunchbang.org/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8468 – Syndog Feb 20 '14 at 19:47
  • here: http://askubuntu.com/questions/11760/what-is-the-difference-between-gksudo-nautilus-and-sudo-nautilus/11766#11766 – Seth Feb 20 '14 at 20:36
1

For Ubuntu 22.04 and quick-list 'Run as root' command in the launcher, this is what worked for me:

  1. In terminal, run echo pkexec env DISPLAY=$DISPLAY XAUTHORITY=$XAUTHORITY and copy the output.
  2. Open and edit your app shortcut config, usually by
sudo nano /usr/share/applications/YOUR_APP.desktop
  1. In [Desktop Entry] section add at the end Actions=Run as root
  2. And below add
[Desktop Action Run as root]
Name=Run as root
Exec=pkexec env DISPLAY=:0 XAUTHORITY=/run/user/1000/gdm/Xauthority YOUR_APP
OnlyShowIn=Unity
  1. In Exec= line, paste line from first step before YOUR_APP command.

If all good additional command, Run as root should appear after right-click on YOUR_APP icon. In my case, it was almost immediately, but I had to restart the application.

Run as root menu

Leszek
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  • It works for PopOS as well! The key here is that you have to hardcode the ENVs like you mentioned. It's weird but it looks like either the $DISPLAY, $XAUTHORITY or both are different when running from the launcher. I can't find the logs to confirm what the values are. – usersina Dec 10 '22 at 10:33
1

Im posting this in-respone to the question @Chris asked in comments :

Suppose you want to create a launcher which will open "file manager(nautilus)" as root. Then you can do this:

Open terminal. Type: 

sudo -H gedit /usr/share/applications/nautilus_root.desktop

Hit enter. When asked, enter your login password and hit enter. This will open gedit (text editor). Now, paste the following there:

[DesktopEntry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Nautilus(Root)
Comment=FileManager
Exec=gksu nautilus
Icon=file-manager
Categories=System;
Type=Application
Terminal=0

Now, just save it and exit. You are done. Now if you search on dash then you will find a new launcher "Nautilus (Root)". Clicking this will ask you password, and upon authentication nautilus will be opened as root.

Note: Be careful when you are running "Nautilus (Root)". In this mode you can delete almost anything from / and break the system.

Zanna
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Curious Apprentice
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0

To create a shortcut that executes a script with root permissions on Ubuntu 20.04, you can use:

  1. Add the following line to /etc/sudoers (sudo gedit /etc/sudoers)

    • YOURUSERNAME ALL = NOPASSWD: /script/path

  2. Create a desktop shortcut:

    • gedit ~/Desktop/myshortcut.desktop

  3. Add the following content:

    #!/usr/bin/env xdg-open [Desktop Entry] Version=1.0 Type=Application Terminal=false Exec=sudo /script/path myarg Name=Shortcut Name Comment=Shortcut Comment Icon=/usr/share/icons/Humanity/actions/16/media-playback-start.svg

  4. Right click and the shortcut and choose Allow Launching:

enter image description here

Pedro Lobito
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  • Yes, interesting. But the thing will be started with sudo. What if I want to start a GUI? Since from 18.04 on gksu is gone and starting GUIs with sudo is considered bad what is the actual real thing to do it?! – bomben Jul 08 '20 at 11:58
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As of Ubuntu 18.04 gksu is depreciated, pkexec requires an install and doesn't always work. Here's another way:

Per edm's answer, edit the .desktop EXEC line, but prepend only with "sudo ", e.g. /usr/bin/nvidia-settings becomes sudo /usr/bin/nvidia-settings. MenuLibre users (and maybe other GUI menu editors): the Command line in MenuLibre sends to the EXEC line in in the .desktop file, so you don't need to bother digging the .desktop file out.

If you try this out from the menu now, nothing will happen. Sudo is called with no GUI so nothing happens and it fails silently. This is expected.

In terminal: sudo visudo then add at bottom (right click paste):

YOURUSERNAME ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/nvidia-settings

ctrl+o to save, enter, ctrl+X to close file. Should work now.

dez93_2000
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0

Since I was also stuck on this I finally found a solution that worked for me on Ubuntu 20.x LTS

  1. run echo pkexec env DISPLAY=$DISPLAY XAUTHORITY=$XAUTHORITY in a terminal
  2. copy its output
  3. edit the related .desktop file at /usr/share/applications/
  4. insert the output of 1. after Exec= your final command should look something like this Exec=pkexec env DISPLAY=:0 XAUTHORITY=/run/user/1000/gdm/Xauthority /usr/sbin/kvpm
Jan Wiesemann
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  • The question is/was about the old Unity DE on only applicable to it. Standard Ubuntu runs with Gnome DE since many releases ago. – ChanganAuto Feb 17 '22 at 11:07
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This should perhaps be a comment on Daniel's solution. It works for me, even in Ubuntu 15.04. I had to put the command between quotes Exec=gksu "nautilus --new-window" because of the extra argument. Also, somehow, I don't know why, I had to edit the launcher directly in order to keep the original menu (together with the new option). If you drag your own launcher, it will get registered, but you will not have the same menu.

In Ubuntu 15.04, the launcher for nautilus is usr/share/applications/org.gnome.Nautilus.desktop. You have to use the command line to see the real file name.

Further research lead me to what I believe is a better option : http://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/2014/04/ubuntu-14-04-add-open-as-rootadministrator-to-context-menu/ . Instead of opening Nautilus entirely as Root, this allows you to open selected directories as Root within Nautilus. Anyway, I checked, and these two options are compatible. If you open Nautilus as Root and then use the second option to open a directory as Root, it simply opens it without asking the password.

Dominic108
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