Perl scripts that provide login information to applications

brahan has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

Monks,

I want to write a script that will log me into my vpnc account, but I have to log into an su shell before I can run vpnc. I want to be able to run the script from non su, so I want the script to gain root access and then automatically run and log into vpnc. There is no concern for security.

I have been working with backticks trying to use shell commands such as sudo without results.
From your experience what would be the best way to accomplish this task using perl?

Please point me towards any modules or tutorials that you know of.

Thanks, brahan

Comment on Perl scripts that provide login information to applications

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Re: Perl scripts that provide login information to applications by almut (Canon) on Feb 05, 2009 at 20:27 UTC
What exactly were the problems with using `sudo`? Did you set the "NOPASSWD:" option for the command in question? (Hint: in fact, using `sudo` would be the preferred solution.) As soon as you need to enter credentials, you'll need to use something like Expect, which does fake a terminal, which in turn allows your script to interact with the program on the other side...	[reply] [d/l] [select]
Re^2: Perl scripts that provide login information to applications by brahan (Initiate) on Feb 05, 2009 at 21:04 UTC
almut, I did not see the NOPASSWD option in the man page for sudo but will look again...and also for Expect Thanks, brahan	[reply]
Re^3: Perl scripts that provide login information to applications by almut (Canon) on Feb 05, 2009 at 21:13 UTC
NOPASSWD is described in the `sudoers(5)` man page...	[reply] [d/l]