visudo(8)                        17/Oct/98                        visudo(8)
 MAINTENANCE COMMANDS                                   MAINTENANCE COMMANDS

                                    1.5.7

 NAME
      visudo - edit the sudoers file

 SYNOPSIS
      visudo [ -V ]

 DESCRIPTION
      visudo edits the sudoers file in a safe fashion, analogous to vipw(8).
      visudo locks the sudoers file against multiple simultaneous edits,
      provides basic sanity checks, and checks for parse errors.  If the
      sudoers file is currently being edited you will receive a message to
      try again later.  In the default configuration, the vi(1) editor is
      used, but there is a compile time option to allow use of whatever
      editor the environment variables EDITOR or VISUAL are set to.

      visudo parses the sudoers file after the edit and will not save the
      changes if there is a syntax error.  Upon finding an error, a message
      will be printed stating the line number(s) that the error occurred on
      and the user will receive the "What now?" prompt.  At this point the
      user may enter "e" to re-edit the sudoers file, enter "x" to exit
      without saving the changes, or "Q" to quit and save changes.  The "Q"
      option should be used with extreme care because if visudo believes
      there to be a parse error, so will sudo and no one will be able to
      execute sudo again until the error is fixed.  Any other command at
      this prompt will print a short help message.  When editing the sudoers
      file after a parse error has been detected the cursor will be placed
      on the line where the error occurred (if the editor supports this
      feature).

 OPTIONS
      visudo accepts the following command line option:

      -V  The -V (version) option causes visudo to print the version number
...skipping...

      visudo parses the sudoers file after the edit and will not save the
      changes if there is a syntax error.  Upon finding an error, a message
      will be printed stating the line number(s) that the error occurred on
      and the user will receive the "What now?" prompt.  At this point the
      user may enter "e" to re-edit the sudoers file, enter "x" to exit
      without saving the changes, or "Q" to quit and save changes.  The "Q"
      option should be used with extreme care because if visudo believes
      there to be a parse error, so will sudo and no one will be able to
      execute sudo again until the error is fixed.  Any other command at
      this prompt will print a short help message.  When editing the sudoers
      file after a parse error has been detected the cursor will be placed
      on the line where the error occurred (if the editor supports this
      feature).

 OPTIONS
      visudo accepts the following command line option:

      -V  The -V (version) option causes visudo to print the version number
          and exit.

 ERRORS
      sudoers file busy, try again later.
          Either someone is currently editing the sudoers file or there is a
          stale sudoers lock file (/etc/stmp by default) that you need to
          delete.

      /etc/stmp: Permission denied
          You didn't run visudo as root.

      Can't find you in the passwd database
          Your userid does not appear in the passwd file.

 FILES

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 visudo(8)                        17/Oct/98                        visudo(8)
 MAINTENANCE COMMANDS                                   MAINTENANCE COMMANDS

                                    1.5.7

       /etc/sudoers           file of authorized users.
       /etc/stmp              lock file for visudo.

 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
      The following are used only if visudo was compiled with the ENV_EDITOR
      option:

       EDITOR                 Used by visudo as the editor to use.
       VISUAL                 Used by visudo if EDITOR is not set.

 AUTHOR
      Many people have worked on sudo over the years, this version of visudo
      was written by:

       Todd Miller            <Todd.Miller@courtesan.com>

      See the HISTORY file in the sudo distribution for more details.

      Please send all bugs, comments, and changes to sudo-
      bugs@courtesan.com.

 DISCLAIMER
      This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
      WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
      MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
      General Public License for more details.

      You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
      along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
      Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

 CAVEATS
      Due to the syntax of the sudoers file, there is no way for visudo to
      tell the difference between a mistyped {Host,User,Cmnd}_Alias and a
      user or host name.

      There is no easy way to prevent a user from gaining a root shell if
      the editor used by visudo allows shell escapes.

 BUGS
      The -V flag gives the version of the sudo package rather than the
      individual visudo program.

 SEE ALSO
      sudo(8), vipw(8).

                                    - 2 -        Formatted:  August 20, 1999

 visudo(8)                        17/Oct/98                        visudo(8)
 MAINTENANCE COMMANDS                                   MAINTENANCE COMMANDS

                                    1.5.7

                                    - 3 -        Formatted:  August 20, 1999

                      17/Oct/98                        visudo(8)
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