Mail Archives: cygwin/2008/11/19/20:39:16
On 14 Nov 2008 10:53:12 +0100, Corinna Vinschen wrote:
> Actually this isn't a ssh-host-config problem, but a generic problem
> for all admin tasks. Installing any service requires elevation, or
> running in a Admin shell. I'm not really convinced that we need it.
> Admins running admin tasks should know that they need admin privileges.
> What you're asking for is a convenience, not a necessity.
Yes, I agree that we are talking about a generic problem for tasks
requiring elevation. And perhaps I took it a step too far suggesting that
we might want to provide a mechanism to elevate automatically (a lame
attempt at being compatible with pre-vista OSes). So I take that back.
I'd really just like to understand what the recommended behavior should be
for admin tasks that are invoked from underprivileged shells under vista
with UAC turned on. In other words, should we do anything to ease a
cygwin user's transition to Vista?
Right now, the documentation doesn't address any migration to vista
issues. So we are pretty much ensuring that new vista users will stumble
onto the cygwin elevation problems the hard way. And this list or its
archives are the only resources to figure out what to do. We can do
better than that.
Bottom line, any design decision that reduces noise on this list will have
the added benefit of providing a better experience to the user (win-win).
Or put differently, an inconvience to the user can translate to an
inconvenience to the list.
For example, would these be reasonable goals for admin tasks requiring
elevation?
* Provide documentation and recommendations for vista specific issues
(UAC recommendations, how to elevate, commands requiring
elevation,...). Is the user guide the right place for that?
* When a command requires elevation, detect if the process is already
elevated. If not, exit with an error and a reasonable error statement
indicating the nature of the problem (and perhaps point to the more
detailed documentation and recommendations on how to address the
problem above).
Any others?
Note, I'm not requesting any changes. I'm just trying to understand if we
could/should establish guidelines for admin tasks requiring elevation.
> Having said that, if we want that I think the Vista elevation stuff
> should go into csih, rather than ssh-host-config script, so all admin
> scripts can use the functionality easily in the long run.
That certainly makes sense for admin scripts. Though it would be good if
other admin commands would also behave similarly.
> And I'm sure Charles wouldn't mind to get csih patches ;)
Gots to understand the design goals before attempting any patches...
Herb.
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