Run my executable automatically as root ubuntu

Question

I am working in Ubuntu 14.04 I have an C++ application which I have compiled. I get the executable which name is "program". Well the thing is that this program use opencv and sockets then if I try to execute it in the terminal like this:

./program

I got this error:

listener: socket: Operation not permitted
setsockopt: Bad file descriptor

This error appear because I using socket and I need to run my application as root, so I tyoe this:

sudo ./program

This request my password and the program works propertly.

The thing is that I want to run this "program" automatically when I start my Ubuntu, but it does not work. I have another application the name is "camera" which only use opencv, no socket, then I do not need to run as root. So I put this application in the startup application of ubuntu and the "camera" application start at the begining without problem.

So I guess that my problem is that I need to run as root my "program", but I can not get it.

Someone could help me?

Many Thanks

Answer 1

You need to change the ownership of the program to root:root and use the setuid permission so that it runs with the permissions of its owner, not the user who invoked it.

sudo chown root:root ./program
sudo chmod a+s ./program

Now the program will run with root privileges for all users.

Hope that helps.

Side note: As a programmer you should strive to ensure that programs that run with root privileges are free of security holes, so that they're not vulnerable to buffer overflow exploits, etc.