please – polite regex-first sudo alternative

please is a command-line utility for delegating privileged command execution through configurable authorisation rules. It provides an alternative to sudo with an emphasis on restricting permissions to the commands users actually need.

The application allows administrators to define access rules using regular expressions. These rules can match command paths, user accounts, groups and other properties associated with the requested operation.

This approach is useful when users need permission to perform selected administrative tasks without receiving unrestricted root access. For example, an administrator might permit a service account to restart a particular service while denying other privileged operations.

Although regular expressions are central to its design, please also supports exact-match rules. These provide an alternative when patterns are unnecessary or administrators want more explicit matching behaviour.

please includes a companion utility called pleaseedit for editing protected files. Rather than simply running an editor as root, pleaseedit copies the target file to a temporary location, allows the user to edit it and then replaces the original after the configured checks succeed.

Authorisation rules can also incorporate time restrictions, making it possible to permit privileged operations during a defined period.

The utility provides authentication controls and logging facilities, including the ability to associate an explanation with a privileged command.

This is free and open source software.

Key Features

• Authorise privileged commands using regular-expression rules.
• Support exact-match alternatives to regular expressions.
• Define permissions for individual users and groups.
• Restrict command execution to particular target accounts.
• Apply date and time restrictions to authorisation rules.
• Control access according to the system hostname.
• Request reasons for privileged command execution.
• Record execution reasons in system logs.
• Use pleaseedit to edit protected files without executing the editor as root.
• Validate edited files before replacing their originals.
• List the privileges available to a user.
• Check authorisation configuration syntax.
• Cache authentication tokens and allow them to be cleared.
• Support non-interactive authentication checks.
• Control which environment variables are preserved.
• Cross-platform support – runs on Linux and NetBSD.

Website: gitlab.com/edneville/please
Support:
Developer: Ed Neville
License: GNU General Public License v3.0

please is written in Rust. Learn Rust with our recommended free books and free tutorials.

Alternatives to sudo

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