How to fix 'sudo: no tty present and no askpass program specified' error?

linux sudo tty
hebbo picture hebbo · Feb 9, 2014 · Viewed 796.8k times · Source

I am trying to compile some sources using a makefile. In the makefile there is a bunch of commands that need to be ran as sudo.

When I compile the sources from a terminal all goes fine and the make is paused the first time a sudo command is ran waiting for password. Once I type in the password, make resumes and completes.

But I would like to be able to compile the sources in NetBeans. So, I started a project and showed netbeans where to find the sources, but when I compile the project it gives the error:

sudo: no tty present and no askpass program specified

The first time it hits a sudo command.

I have looked up the issue on the internet and all the solutions I found point to one thing: disabling the password for this user. Since the user in question here is root. I do not want to do that.

Is there any other solution?

Answer

nicdaniau picture nicdaniau · Jun 8, 2014

Granting the user to use that command without prompting for password should resolve the problem. First open a shell console and type:

sudo visudo

Then edit that file to add to the very end:

username ALL = NOPASSWD: /fullpath/to/command, /fullpath/to/othercommand

eg

john ALL = NOPASSWD: /sbin/poweroff, /sbin/start, /sbin/stop

will allow user john to sudo poweroff, start and stop without being prompted for password.

Look at the bottom of the screen for the keystrokes you need to use in visudo - this is not vi by the way - and exit without saving at the first sign of any problem. Health warning: corrupting this file will have serious consequences, edit with care!

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