Can you SU to root from a regular user in WinSCP somehow? :: Support Forum

TroyB
Joined:: 2006-07-18
Posts:: 3

Can you SU to root from a regular user in WinSCP somehow?

2006-07-18 16:05

I know generally you can't execute commands that require input (root password) but I was wondering if there was any way to pull this off?

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martin◆ Site Admin
Joined:: 2002-12-10
Posts:: 41,518
Location:: Prague, Czechia

Re: Can you SU to root from a regular user in WinSCP somehow?

2006-07-19

Please read FAQ

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TroyB

2006-07-19 14:30

Thank you for the response. I still can't get it to work. I edited the /etc/sudoers and added in the user account as it suggested and now I can do an sudo su and it switches me to root with no prompting for password. But I still can't get it to work within WinSCP. It just times out.

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martin◆ Site Admin

2006-07-21

Can you try to login using PuTTY and specify /bin/bash -c 'sudo su -' as "Remote command" (on SSH tab)? Would it connect automatically without any prompt? Or post a log file.

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TroyB

2006-07-21 20:03

Yes, I just did it again and PuTTY works fine and without prompting. I just can't do it in WinSCP.

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martin◆ Site Admin

2006-07-31

Please post a log file.

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billguy Guest

2006-09-25 18:37

Guess I'll pick it up where he left off:

same issue, read the faq, using WinSCP 3.8.2, here's my log:

. 2006-09-25 12:28:05.843 Startup conversation with host finished.
. 2006-09-25 12:28:17.000 Executing user defined command.
> 2006-09-25 12:28:17.000 sudo su ; echo "WinSCP: this is end-of-file:$?"
. 2006-09-25 12:28:32.001 Waiting for data timed out, asking user what to do.
. 2006-09-25 12:28:32.001 Asking user:
. 2006-09-25 12:28:32.001 Host has not answered for 15 seconds.
. 2006-09-25 12:28:32.001 
. 2006-09-25 12:28:32.001 Wait for another 15 seconds? Pressing 'Abort' button will close session. ()
. 2006-09-25 12:28:38.361 Attempt to close connection due to fatal exception:
* 2006-09-25 12:28:38.361 Terminated by user.
. 2006-09-25 12:28:38.361 Closing connection.
* 2006-09-25 12:28:38.361 (ESshFatal) Terminated by user.

FWIW I'm on Ubuntu 6.06, my sudoers looks like so:

myusername ALL=NOPASSWD: ALL

I am not prompted for a password from the console/putty when I do a sudo su.

Stumped.

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martin◆ Site Admin

2006-09-26

You cannot use sudo from terminal. You need to specify it as "Shell" for the session. Please read the FAQ again.

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Guest

2006-09-29 15:50

My apologies @martin. That worked flawlessly. Thank you.
WinSCP is a great tool b/t/w, thanks for the generous contribution.

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Gogowitsch
Joined:: 2017-05-06
Posts:: 1
Location:: Dresden

And now for file listings as root

2017-05-06 22:20

This thread is about the Terminal window (Ctrl+T).

Let's talk about the core function of WinSCP instead:
I also needed access to directories like /root and /var/lib/mysql. After some tinkering with the settings I figured out that for Debian and Ubuntu, I have to open the Login > Advanced window, navigate to the SFTP tree item and type sudo /usr/lib/openssh/sftp-server in the SFTP server box. This allowed me to use my non-root credentials to gain root access.

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Gest Guest

2017-08-06 18:46

Im running Ubuntu 17.04. When you make a new session select SCP protocol and click on Advanced Settings. Then select SCP/Shell and write: /bin/bash -c "sudo -s"

On the server I have openssh installed.

I have my user, e.g.: webdev added to the sudo group
And I had to add to /etc/sudoers the line:

webdev ALL = NOPASSWD : ALL

So after hours of trying it finally works...

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schuess Guest

thanks that worked

2017-10-25 10:09

@Gest: Thanks a lot. Got it to work. The FAQ was not that specific...

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Vasiliy Guest

this instructions worked for me (CentOS 7)

2017-12-04 08:32

This instructions worked for me
https://web.archive.org/web/20221204182956/https://oitibs.com/allow-root-winscp-file-transfer/

The command in my case was:

echo -e  "MyUserName ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/libexec/openssh/sftp-server" > /etc/sudoers.d/winscp

and in Advanced settings of SFTP:

sudo /usr/libexec/openssh/sftp-server

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mfiros Guest

set the correct file ownership and permissions:

2018-07-20 10:45

sudo chown -Rf ec2-user /var/www/mysite/location 
sudo chmod -Rf 755 /var/www/mysite/location

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charlwillia6 Guest

Re: thanks that worked

2021-08-19 17:15

@schuess: Thanks for this. I didn't see that it had to be SCP. This helped.

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martin◆ Site Admin

Re: thanks that worked

2021-08-23

@charlwillia6: It does not have to be SCP. It works for SFTP too, but the settings are different. Please read the FAQ:
https://winscp.net/eng/docs/faq_su#sudo

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