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Accepted
MathewC
Asked: 2009-07-01 11:59:34 +0800 CST

Save file after forgetting to open as root / sudo vi [duplicate]

  • 772

Possible Duplicate:
vim re-edit as root

I could have sworn I saw this question asked. But after looking though every search result for "vi" I'm stumped/lazy.

I've opened a file, made an edit and now I realize it's read only and I've opened it as non-root me.

linux vim sudo su vi

4 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    I think you want something like this:

    :w !sudo tee "%"

    I first saw it on commandlinefu. The quotes are only necessary if the file path contains spaces.

    • 34

  2. i do this occasionally, and if the changes i've made are trivial, i just exit and edit it again as root.

    otherwise i save the file to /tmp, and mv/cp it as root to where it really belongs later. and use chown/chgrp/chmod to fix the ownership/perms.

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  3. consider adding this line to your vimrc:

    " Remaps :SW to sudo save the current file and tell vim to reload it
command SW execute 'w !sudo tee % >/dev/null' | e! %
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