Running a Service with sudo administrator privileges - shell

Question

I have the following shell script that I normally run successfully as a system service (created in automator:
#!/bin/bash
for f in "$#"
do ln -s "$f" "${f}.deleteThisExtensionAfterMoving"
echo "${f}.deleteThisExtensionAfterMoving"
done
However, when trying to use this to make symlinks in folders that I'm not the owner of, it fails.
I tried saving it as a script, then using applescript in automator as I've seen described elsewhere here:
on run {input, parameters}
do shell script ("sudo ~/Documents/z_misc/makesymlink '" & POSIX path of input & "'") with administrator privileges
end run
However, upon running the service, I see a "command not found" error.
When I tried saving the script as a .sh file and using that instead, it still didn't work. When I try running from terminal without the preceding "sudo" command, I get a "permission denied" error.

Answer 1

When I try running from terminal without the preceding "sudo" command, I get a "permission denied" error.
The "permission denied" error when attempting to execute a shell script (or binary executable) is typically caused because the file is not set as executable. Use the following command in Terminal:
chmod +x file
Or:
chmod +x /path/to/file
Quoting if there are spaces or escaping spaces with a backslash (\), but not both.
However, the "permission denied" error can also be caused if there is a privileges issue with where the shell script or binary executable is located.
Keeping executables in you Documents folder or any of the default folders, except for Public, within your Home folder can be problematic to Automator actions and for use in Terminal.
I created a bin folder in my Home folder and place my shell scripts and binary executables that I do not want elsewhere, e.g. /use/local/bin, and have added "$HOME/bin" to my PATH.
Here is what I'd use in the Run AppleScript action in my Automator Service/Quick Action:
Example AppleScript code:
on run {input, parameters}
repeat with thisItem in input
set thisItem to the quoted form of the POSIX path of thisItem
do shell script ("$HOME/bin/makesymlink " & thisItem) with administrator privileges
end repeat
end run
As coded, this allows for multiple Finder items to be passed to the Automator Service/Quick Action.
That all said, without seeing the contest of the makesymlink file there is not anything else I can think off at the moment.
From the linked Technical Note below:
Note: Using sudo(8) with with administrator privileges is generally unnecessary and creates security holes; simply remove the sudo.
Have a look at Technical Note TN2065 do shell script in AppleScript
If you are going to use the do shell script command, then I suggest you read the entire Technical Note.