Create an Icon for sudo command?

**Gripp** · May 1st, 2008

my problem is that my MX5000 keyboard and mouse loose contact with the bluetooth software after just maybe 30 minutes of inactivity.

my current solution is to break out the wired keyboard and mouse, which are currently permanent fixtures atop my case because of this, open a terminal and typ in

Code:

sudo /etc/init.d/bluetooth restart

and then type in my PW

i have to do this very frequently. and mind you, this is an HTPC in my living room - yeah, eye-swore from hell...

so what i would like to have is a icon on my desktop that i click and it does this for me, PW included, so that i can at least get the wired keyboard back in storage...

so what do i need to do to get this created?

**SPr** · May 1st, 2008

Right click the Desktop and choose "create launcher". For the command enter

Code:

gksudo /etc/init.d/bluetooth restart

Comments, name and custom icons are your choice.

You'll have to enter the password whenever you run the command though. I would be very surprised if there is any way of including the password within the command - which is the sticking point for you. I would look to see why the bluetooth connection keeps getting dropped when the keyboard or mouse is inactive.

**chrisccoulson** · May 1st, 2008

There is a way of making sudo not ask for a password, but it isn't recommended and I'm not going to post how to do it. If you really want to be able to do it, then you can find it by searching Google.

**ryanhaigh** · May 1st, 2008

Because sudo and its gui equivalent gksudo both require a password to be entered if you haven't done so in the last 10 minutes this is going to be a little more complex but is none the less achievable.

Put the following into /etc/rc.local, this script is run at startup as root so there will be no need to use sudo, replace yourusername with...well you get the idea. To edit the file open a terminal an use

Code:

sudo gedit /etc/rc.local

Code:

#!/bin/bash
#checks for a file in user home directory and if exists restarts service

while [ 1 ]
do
sleep 120
if [ -f /home/yourusername/.restartbluetooth ]; then
echo "file found restarting service"
/etc/init.d/bluetooth restart && rm /home/yourusername/.restartbluetooth
else
echo "file not found looping"
fi
done

After entering this into the file ensure that the file is executable using

Code:

sudo chmod +x /etc/rc.local

Now create a launcher on your desktop using whatever icon/name you want with the following command

Code:

touch /home/yourusername/.restartbluetooth

This will create the file that the rc.local script looks for resulting in the service being restarted.

**unutbu** · May 1st, 2008

Perhaps this is not the best fix possible, but here is a way to run

Code:

/etc/init.d/bluetooth restart

as root every 30 minutes without having to type anything:

Go to a terminal and type

Code:

sudo crontab -e

Edit the root's crontab to look like this:

Code:

# m h  dom mon dow   command
*/30 * * * * /etc/init.d/bluetooth restart

**Green_Star** · May 1st, 2008

If you want to run this commend(using command line or launcher)you can do it with sudoers, you can restrict without password for only this command. Right now I am not at linux machine so I can not give you more details, search google.
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=...G=Search&meta=
first link may help you,
hope this helps for now.

**ryanhaigh** · May 1st, 2008

A more generic version where the service and username are specified as variables

Code:

#!/bin/bash
#checks for a file in user home directory and if exists restarts service

SERVICE=ddclient
USERNAME=ryanhaigh

while [ 1 ]
do
sleep 2
if [ -f /home/$USERNAME/.restart$SERVICE ]; then
echo "file found restarting $SERVICE"
/etc/init.d/$SERVICE restart && rm /home/$USERNAME/.restart$SERVICE
else
echo "file not found looping"
fi
done

**Oldsoldier2003** · May 1st, 2008

Originally Posted by chrisccoulson

There is a way of making sudo not ask for a password, but it isn't recommended and I'm not going to post how to do it. If you really want to be able to do it, then you can find it by searching Google.

Its posted in the wiki, so its not a problem talking about it. you just need to edit sudoers, but again its not something you should do lightly at a whim. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Sudoers

**Gripp** · May 1st, 2008

i'm not looking to disable the need for a PW when runnning the command - i do still want some amount of security in this regard

i was think of using bash to create an MD5 code of my PW and using that in a script related to the launcher keeping my PW safe even when being used automatically. or maybe i can assign my wallet to auto enter it when i click the icon?
i dont know how to code at all, so maybe i'm missing some very basic concepts here

edit: on second thought, if the md5 thing worked then they could still use that code to get to everythiung else... so ... i'm tired, that's my exuse, and i'm sticking to it!
so then, maybe make the viewing/editing of this one icon PW restricted?...

Originally Posted by ryanhaigh

Because sudo and its gui equivalent gksudo both require a password to be entered if you haven't done so in the last 10 minutes this is going to be a little more complex but is none the less achievable.

Put the following into /etc/rc.local, this script is run at startup as root so there will be no need to use sudo, replace yourusername with...well you get the idea. To edit the file open a terminal an use

Code:

sudo gedit /etc/rc.local

Code:

#!/bin/bash
#checks for a file in user home directory and if exists restarts service

while [ 1 ]
do
sleep 120
if [ -f /home/yourusername/.restartbluetooth ]; then
echo "file found restarting service"
/etc/init.d/bluetooth restart && rm /home/yourusername/.restartbluetooth
else
echo "file not found looping"
fi
done

After entering this into the file ensure that the file is executable using

Code:

sudo chmod +x /etc/rc.local

Now create a launcher on your desktop using whatever icon/name you want with the following command

Code:

touch /home/yourusername/.restartbluetooth

This will create the file that the rc.local script looks for resulting in the service being restarted.

i've done everything you;ve said here. replaced it with my username and looked for any typos. when i clicked the launcher it creates a file .restartbluetooth but nothing happens from there. and the file never gets removed... maybe the rc.local never runs?
i tried removing the exit 0 at the end as well, both variations produce the same result

edit: maybe i need to restart? or is there a better way getting rc.local up and running?

**chrisccoulson** · May 1st, 2008

Originally Posted by ryanhaigh

A more generic version where the service and username are specified as variables

Code:

#!/bin/bash
#checks for a file in user home directory and if exists restarts service

SERVICE=ddclient
USERNAME=ryanhaigh

while [ 1 ]
do
sleep 2
if [ -f /home/$USERNAME/.restart$SERVICE ]; then
echo "file found restarting $SERVICE"
/etc/init.d/$SERVICE restart && rm /home/$USERNAME/.restart$SERVICE
else
echo "file not found looping"
fi
done

The problem with this is it only works for the one specified user unless you edit /etc/rc.local each time a user logs in (I don't know if that is an issue on the OP's machine).

Instead of creating and checking for a ~/.restartbluetooth, i'd probably create a /tmp/.restartbluetooth. With that, you could make it work in a multi-user setup I think.

Although, I think the OP should also try and get to the bottom of the actual problem