How can I let users run a script with root permissions?

Question

Given the dangers of SUID shell scripts, is there a more secure way of giving passwordless access to scripts (bash, PHP) with root permissions in Linux?

(Ubuntu 8.10)

Answer 1

Answer 2

You could consider sudo.

Although not 'passwordless', it doesn't require the user to be given the root password. It can also provide an audit trail of use of the script.

edit: as per comment from Chris, there is an option not to require a password at all for certain commands, see here for details. It can also be set up not to prompt excessively for the password, i.e. one entry of the password can be good for multiple commands over a period of use.

By the way, sudo is built in to Ubuntu and nicely integrated with Gnome. When ubuntu prompts you for your password to do privileged operations, that's sudo under the hood.