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I have to run this command sudo sh -c "echo 'nameserver 8.8.8.8' >> /etc/resolv.conf" to append a line nameserver 8.8.8.8 into /etc/resolv.conf file. I know, it could be possible only through subshell.

My questions:

  • Is that it could be possible without running the command in subshell?

  • On which cases, a command should be runned in subshell?

Avinash Raj
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    Can you clarify? You want to know why you should warp the redirection while using sudo or in which cases you have to run subshells? – Braiam May 29 '14 at 23:25
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    Can you clarify? In your example`sudo sh -c ...` doesn't create a subshell, but a new shell process (and you don't need this new shell as long as you can use `sed` or `tee` or something else instead of `>>`). And `>>` is not a real command to use `sudo` on it, but is an [redirection operator](http://www.tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/io-redirection.html). So, your question doesn't have sense, or logic... – Radu Rădeanu May 30 '14 at 10:40

1 Answers1

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sudo echo 'nameserver 8.8.8.8' >> /etc/resolv.conf

fails because it gives elevated permissions to the echo command (which doesn't need it), but not to the >> redirection (which does, since the destination file is owned by root). Wrapping the whole command sequence in sudo sh overcomes that.

You could also do

echo 'nameserver 8.8.8.8' | sudo tee -a /etc/resolv.conf
steeldriver
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  • Using the pipeline, you are using in fact not one subshell, but two. See `man bash` in this sense (line 279): *"Each command in a pipeline is executed as a separate process (i.e., in a subshell)."* – Radu Rădeanu May 30 '14 at 19:08