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NAME
SYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION
OPTIONS
EXIT STATUS
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
SEE ALSO
NOTES
other versions
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257.9-1~deb13u1
testing
260.1-1
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260.1-1
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RUN0(1)
run0
RUN0(1)
NAME
run0 - Elevate privileges
SYNOPSIS
run0
[OPTIONS...] [COMMAND...]
DESCRIPTION
run0
may be used to temporarily and interactively acquire
elevated or different privileges. It serves a similar purpose as
sudo(8)
, but operates differently in a couple of key areas:
•No execution or security context credentials are
inherited from the caller into the invoked commands, as they are invoked from
a fresh, isolated service forked off by the service manager.
•Authentication takes place via
polkit
[1],
thus isolating the authentication prompt from the terminal (if
possible).
•An independent pseudo-tty is allocated for the
invoked command, detaching its lifecycle and isolating it for security.
•No SetUID/SetGID file access bit functionality is
used for the implementation.
Altogether this should provide a safer and more robust alternative
to the
sudo
mechanism, in particular in OS environments where
SetUID/SetGID support is not available (for example by setting the
NoNewPrivileges=
variable in
systemd-system.conf(5)
).
Any session invoked via
run0
will run through the
"systemd-run0" PAM stack.
Note that
run0
is implemented as an alternative multi-call
invocation of
systemd-run(1)
. That is,
run0
is a symbolic link
to
systemd-run
executable file, and it behaves as
run0
if it
is invoked through the symbolic link, otherwise behaves as
systemd-run
OPTIONS
The following options are understood:
--unit=
Use this unit name instead of an automatically generated
one.
Added in version 256.
--property=
Sets a property of the service unit that is created. This
option takes an assignment in the same format as
systemctl(1)
's
set-property
command.
Added in version 256.
--description=
Provide a description for the service unit that is
invoked. If not specified, the command itself will be used as a description.
See
Description=
in
systemd.unit(5)
Added in version 256.
--slice=
Make the new .service unit part of the specified slice,
instead of user.slice.
Added in version 256.
--slice-inherit
Make the new .service unit part of the slice the
run0
itself has been invoked in. This option may be combined with
--slice=
, in which case the slice specified via
--slice=
is
placed within the slice the
run0
command is invoked in.
Example: consider
run0
being invoked in the slice
foo.slice, and the
--slice=
argument is bar. The unit will then be
placed under foo-bar.slice.
Added in version 256.
--user=
-u
--group=
-g
Switches to the specified user/group instead of root.
Added in version 256.
--nice=
Runs the invoked session with the specified nice level.
Added in version 256.
--chdir=
-D
Runs the invoked session with the specified working
directory. If not specified defaults to the client's current working directory
if switching to the root user, or the target user's home directory otherwise.
Added in version 256.
--setenv=
NAME
[=
VALUE
Runs the invoked session with the specified environment
variable set. This parameter may be used more than once to set multiple
variables. When "=" and
VALUE
are omitted, the value of the
variable with the same name in the invoking environment will be used.
Added in version 256.
--background=
COLOR
Change the terminal background color to the specified
ANSI color as long as the session lasts. If not specified, the background will
be tinted in a reddish tone when operating as root, and in a yellowish tone
when operating under another UID, as reminder of the changed privileges. The
color specified should be an ANSI X3.64 SGR background color, i.e. strings
such as "40", "41", ..., "47",
"48;2;...", "48;5;...". See
ANSI Escape Code
(Wikipedia)
[2] for details. Set to an empty string to disable.
Example: "--background=44" for a blue background.
Added in version 256.
--pty
--pipe
Request allocation of a pseudo TTY for the
run0
session (in case of
--pty
), or request passing the caller's STDIO file
descriptors directly through (in case of
--pipe
). If neither switch is
specified, or if both switches are specified, the mode will be picked
automatically: if standard input, standard output and standard error output
are all connected to a TTY then a pseudo TTY is allocated, otherwise the
relevant file descriptors are passed through directly.
Added in version 257.
--shell-prompt-prefix=
STRING
Set a shell prompt prefix string. This ultimately
controls the
$SHELL_PROMPT_PREFIX
environment variable for the invoked
program, which is typically imported into the shell prompt. By default
– if emojis are supported –, a superhero emoji is shown
(🦸). This default may also be changed (or turned off) by passing the
$SYSTEMD_RUN_SHELL_PROMPT_PREFIX
environment variable to
run0
see below. Set to an empty string to disable shell prompt prefixing.
Added in version 257.
--machine=
Execute operation in a local container. Specify a
container name to connect to.
Added in version 256.
--no-ask-password
Do not query the user for authentication for privileged
operations.
-h
--help
Print a short help text and exit.
--version
Print a short version string and exit.
All command line arguments after the first non-option argument
become part of the command line of the launched process. If no command line
is specified an interactive shell is invoked. The shell to invoke may be
controlled via
--setenv=SHELL=...
and currently defaults to the
originating user's
shell (i.e. not the target user's!) if operating
locally, or /bin/sh when operating with
--machine=
EXIT STATUS
On success, 0 is returned. If
run0
failed to start the
session or the specified command fails, a non-zero return value will be
returned.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
As with
systemd-run
, the session will inherit the system
environment from the service manager. In addition, the following environment
variables will be set:
$TERM
Copied from the
$TERM
of the caller. Can be
overridden with
--setenv=
Added in version 256.
$SUDO_USER
Set to the username of the originating user.
Added in version 256.
$SUDO_UID
Set to the numeric UNIX user id of the originating user.
Added in version 256.
$SUDO_GID
Set to the primary numeric UNIX group id of the
originating session.
Added in version 256.
$SHELL_PROMPT_PREFIX
By default, set to the superhero emoji (if supported),
but may be overridden with the
$SYSTEMD_RUN_SHELL_PROMPT_PREFIX
environment variable (see below), or the
--shell-prompt-prefix=
switch
(see above).
Added in version 257.
The following variables may be passed to
run0
$SYSTEMD_RUN_SHELL_PROMPT_PREFIX
If set, overrides the default shell prompt prefix that
run0
sets for the invoked shell (the superhero emoji). Set to an empty
string to disable shell prompt prefixing.
Added in version 257.
SEE ALSO
systemd(1)
systemd-run(1)
sudo(8)
machinectl(1)
NOTES
1.
polkit
2.
ANSI Escape Code (Wikipedia)
systemd 257.9
Source file:
run0.1.en.gz (from
systemd 257.9-1~deb13u1
Source last updated:
2025-09-03T18:38:20Z
Converted to HTML:
2026-04-11T20:43:47Z
debiman HEAD, see
github.com/Debian/debiman
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