User Workstations and man Pages 1

[Michael42]

It seems our Linux workstation users have hit a wall.

On Solaris we have catman to build man pages. On Linux it is makewhatis.

I have been instructed that makewhatis has a security hole so they made it root only execution.

I looked for a workaround and thought that updatedb was the solution. However, it seems that this can only be done as root.

I need a user solution for a person to generate their own set of man pages which are not installed into the OS but in a directory they have permissions to.

What can you recommend?


Thanks,

Michael42

 

[Deleted]

Use sudo with restrictive privileges.

visudo example entry:

# User privilege specification
username (your ip or hostname)=(ALL) /usr/bin/makewhatis
username (your ip or hostname)=(ALL) /usr/bin/updatedb

This will allow them to build man pages without giving them the powers of root access.

M. Brooks
X Concepts LLC

http://xconcepts.com

 

[Michael42]

Thanks mbrooks!

Thanks,

Michael42