Use sudo to start a root shell where you run the commands:
sudo bash -c 'sleep 4h; command'
Every command running in the root shell runs with root permissions, which for sleep doesn’t hurt. If you need to run a command with user permissions in it, use sudo -u USERNAME COMMAND, e.g.:
$ sudo bash -c 'sleep 4h; sudo -u dessert whoami; whoami'
dessert # whoami run as user dessert
root # whoami run as root
One way is to run via a shellscript with sudo permissions (and give the password, when you start the shellscript), if the shellscript is in the current directory,
sudo ./delayer 4h
where delayer can be a shellscript with the content
#!/bin/bash
sleep "$1"
command
Make it executable with
chmod +x delayer
and copy or move it to a directory in PATH if you wish.
If you want a more flexible shellscript, where you can select the command [line] to delay by entering parameter(s), you can try
#!/bin/bash
if [ $# -lt 2 ] || [ "$(whoami)" != "root" ]
then
echo "Delay start of command, that needs 'sudo'
Usage: sudo $0 <delay> <command line>
Example: sudo $0 4h parted -ls"
exit
fi
sleep "$1"
shift
"$@"
Demo example (short delay, 5s, for demo purpose),
$ ./delayer
Delay start of command, that needs 'sudo'
Usage: sudo ./delayer <delay> <command line>
Example: sudo ./delayer 4h parted -ls
$ sudo ./delayer 5s parted /dev/sdc p
[sudo] password for sudodus:
Model: Kanguru SS3 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdc: 15,9GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
2 1049kB 2097kB 1049kB primary bios_grub
3 2097kB 258MB 256MB fat32 primary boot, esp
4 258MB 2274MB 2016MB primary
5 2274MB 12,5GB 10,2GB ext2 primary
1 12,5GB 15,9GB 3394MB ntfs primary msftdata
Another way would be to start sudo interactive session with sudo -s (does not change directory) or sudo -i (changes current directory to root home directory) and then enter your commands (without sudo)
Use
sudo
to start a root shell where you run the commands:Every command running in the root shell runs with root permissions, which for
sleep
doesn’t hurt. If you need to run a command with user permissions in it, usesudo -u USERNAME COMMAND
, e.g.:Another approach would be to use
sudo visudo
to allow the command’s execution without root access, see: How to allow execution without prompting for password using sudo?Note that depending on the command this may create a security flaw.
Assuming you only want to run the process once (not, e.g. every 4 hours) then you can use
atd
/etc/init.d/atd status
or better stillsystemctl status atd
)At a terminal as root run your command as follows:
If you want to run it every 4 hours you could also use cron (as root) with the following config in your crontab
One way is to run via a shellscript with
sudo
permissions (and give the password, when you start the shellscript), if the shellscript is in the current directory,where
delayer
can be a shellscript with the contentMake it executable with
and copy or move it to a directory in
PATH
if you wish.If you want a more flexible shellscript, where you can select the command [line] to delay by entering parameter(s), you can try
Demo example (short delay, 5s, for demo purpose),
Another way would be to start sudo interactive session with
sudo -s
(does not change directory) orsudo -i
(changes current directory to root home directory) and then enter your commands (without sudo)