how do I run a cgi as root?

johnh

I know all of the problems associated here, but I need to.

How do I get a PHP cgi script to be run with root permissions?

Thanks
John

Anon

im assuming you have the root password? 😛
if so i beleive you can tell apache to do this through one of the config files, not sure about any other webservers, but i dont think it can be done in the PHP code itself... although i might be wrong

johnh

Thanks Danny, and doesn't apache set that only for what the web server runs as? And if you are right, wouldn't that make it a global thing, so that every cgi runs as root?

I'm just looking for a singular cgi, to run as root. And to help clarify, by cgi I truley mean cgi, not just a php script in a web page.

Thanks again
John

Anon

That is generally not a good idea. Is there some way you can get around it? What, specifically, is the reason you need root access for running the cgi?

johnh

I need the ability to get into some files on my system. I own the box, I have the root access, but I need to create new files, and I don't want to make nobody (apache user) the owner of the directories. So I'm going to write a cgi that will let me create a new file, (after a login verification form to verify me, and not just for anyone), I want it to create the file I specify and then let me edit that file from within a textarea form.

What I can't figure out is how do I get my CGI php script to run with permissions of root.

Thanks
John