1CONSOLEHELPER(8) System Manager's Manual CONSOLEHELPER(8)
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6 consolehelper - A wrapper that helps console users run system programs
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9 progname [ options ]
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12 consolehelper is a tool that makes it easy for console users to run
13 system programs, doing authentication via PAM (which can be set up to
14 trust all console users or to ask for a password at the system adminis‐
15 trator's discretion). When possible, the authentication is done graph‐
16 ically; otherwise, it is done within the text console from which con‐
17 solehelper was started.
18 It is intended to be completely transparent. This means that the user
20 will never run the consolehelper program directly. Instead, programs
21 like /sbin/shutdown are paired with a link from /usr/bin/shutdown to
22 /usr/bin/consolehelper. Then when non-root users (specifically, users
23 without /sbin in their path, or /sbin after /usr/bin) call the "shut‐
24 down" program, consolehelper will be invoked to authenticate the action
25 and then invoke /sbin/shutdown. (consolehelper itself has no priv‐
26 iledges; it calls the userhelper(8) program do the real work.)
27 consolehelper requires that a PAM configuration for every managed pro‐
29 gram exist. So to make /sbin/foo or /usr/sbin/foo managed, you need to
30 create a link from /usr/bin/foo to /usr/bin/consolehelper and create
31 the file /etc/pam.d/foo, normally using the pam_console(8) PAM module.
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34 This program has no command line options of its own; it passes all com‐
35 mand line options on to the program it is calling.
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38 userhelper(8)
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41 No known bugs. Report any you find at http://developer.redhat.com/ at
42 the BugTrack link.
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45 Michael K. Johnson <johnsonm@redhat.com>
46Red Hat Software 18 March 1999 CONSOLEHELPER(8)