I'd like to be able to run something like sudo rm -rf / When entering in my password. Just in case I ever need to wipe everything at once before I even login.
I know there are security concerns, so in a perfect world, I'd like to be able to set it up in .bashrc so I would type in something less obvious.
Anyone know of a way to do this?
I would suggest a slightly different approach. Create a new user, let's call him "harakiri" and set it up so that when you log in as harakiri, a command is executed that deletes everything on your hard drive.
Create the new user
sudo adduser harakiri
Create a harakiri script that deletes everything on your drive:
echo "rm -rf --no-preserve-root /" | sudo tee /usr/bin/harakiri
sudo chmod a+x /usr/bin/harakiri
We now have the harakiri command which, when run as root, will delete everything on your /.
Add a line to their .profile that will make them run the harakiri script.
echo "sudo harakiri" | sudo tee ~harakiri/.profile
Add them to the sudoers group
sudo usermod -aG sudo harakiri
Allow user harakiri to run sudo harakiri with no password. Run sudo visudo and add this line:
harakiri ALL=NOPASSWD:/usr/bin/harakiri
Exit and save the file and that's it. Now, you can just log in as harakiri instead of your normal user and that will delete everything on your drive.
This is extremely dangerous and can delete everything on your hard drive. Try with a less destructive command first to make sure everything is working as expected.
Even if you delete everything, it is relatively easy for an expert to retrieve your files. You might want to look into utilities like shred.
If you really need to have this happen when you log in as your regular user, you could also create a bogus X session that runs the rm command.
Create the .desktop file. Run sudo nano /usr/share/xsessions/harakiri.desktop and add these lines:
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Harakiri
Comment=This session will destroy everything
Exec=harakiri
Icon=
Type=Application
The rm command needs to be launched as root in order to delete files on / but the sessions are launched as your user. We therefore need an extra script. The first is the session script which in turn will call the one that launched the rm command:
echo "sudo /usr/bin/harakiri.sh" | sudo tee /usr/bin/harakiri
sudo chmod a+x /usr/bin/harakiri
Create the script that will launch the rm command:
echo "rm -rf --no-preserve-root /" | sudo tee /usr/bin/harakiri.sh
sudo chmod a+x /usr/bin/harakiri.sh
Give your user the right to run it with no password. Run sudo visudo and add this line:
youruser ALL=NOPASSWD:/usr/bin/harakiri.sh
Now you will be able to choose the harakiri session from the login screen and that will delete everything on your drive.
This is extremely dangerous and can delete everything on your hard drive. Try with a less destructive command first to make sure everything is working as expected.
Even if you delete everything, it is relatively easy for an expert to retrieve your files. You might want to look into utilities like shred.
sudo rm -rf --no-preserve-root / will not clear your system. It will delete files until /bin/rm stops working. ldd /bin/rm shows some of these files. System suicide is hard! (Boot from elsewhere and murder is easier, but not the answer). Why not use an encrypted directory?
– waltinator
Jul 20 '15 at 18:54
rm process you started can (and will) run pretty much to completion. You won't be able to start another one when the first one deletes its own binary, but the first one will certainly keep running unimpeded and clear out most of your filesystem. In any case, needless to say you will not be rebooting successfully after rm is finished with your filesystem.
– Thomas
Jul 21 '15 at 06:47
First of all: what you want to do is not impossible, but more difficult then you think, as you need to:
Execute a delete command (and rm --recursive --force / will not work)
If you try it out, you'll just get:
rm --recursive --force /
rm: it is dangerous to operate recursively on ‘/’
So the better option would be to:
Or even better:
Another piece of free advice: start making back-ups before you even try any of the above.
rm have the --no-preserve-root which should allow you to operate (even using --recursive on /)
– kos
Jul 21 '15 at 01:40
sudo rm -rf /would clear your installation (and all files on any mounted device). Luckily they prevented it to be run. – kos Jul 20 '15 at 15:51alias notwhatyouthink='sudo rm -rf /'in .bashrc and if you ever need it , runnotwhatyouthinkcommand – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy Jul 20 '15 at 15:51rm -rf /does nothing but print an error message. This is defined by the current POSIX specs. – terdon Jul 20 '15 at 16:13sudo shred -n1 /dev/sda. Or encrypt the whole system. – Germar Jul 20 '15 at 17:10