How can I append text to /etc/apt/sources.list from the command line?
BashBash Problem Overview
I am new to linux, and just beginning to learn bash. I am using Ubuntu 9.04, and would like to add repositories to /etc/apt/sources.list from the command line. Basically, I would like to do this:
sudo echo "[some repository]" >> /etc/apt/sources.list
However, even when I use sudo, I get this error:
bash: /etc/apt/sources.list: Permission denied
How do I avoid this error?
Bash Solutions
Solution 1 - Bash
echo "[some repository]" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list
The tee command is called as the superuser via sudo and the -a argument tells tee to append to the file instead of overwriting it.
Your original command failed, as the IO redirection with >> will be done as the regular user, only your echo was executed with sudo.
Calling a sudo subshell like
sudo sh -c 'echo "[some repository]" >> /etc/apt/sources.list'
works, too as pointed out by others.
Solution 2 - Bash
The shell processes ">", "<", ">>" etc itself before launching commands. So the problem is that "sudo >> /etc/foo" tries to open /etc/foo for append before gaining privileges.
One way round this is to use sudo to launch another shell to do what you want, e.g.:
sudo sh -c 'echo "[some repository]" >> /etc/apt/sources.list'
Or alternatively:
echo "[some repository]" | sudo sh -c 'cat >> /etc/apt/sources.list'
A simpler approach may simply be to use sudo to launch an editor on the /etc/file :)
Solution 3 - Bash
It's better to use a separate file in /etc/apt/sources.list.d rather than modifying /etc/apt/sources.list, as explained in this other answer. (Note that the file name MUST end in .list or it will be ignored.)
However, if you want to create it using echo the issue with permissions remains. You can use tee to create it like this:
echo '[some repository]' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/some-repository.list >/dev/null
or like this:
sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/some-repository.list >/dev/null <<EOF
[some repository]
EOF
Note that you don't need -a on the tee command (because you're not appending).
You can also create the file somewhere else and then copy it into place with:
sudo cp path/to/some-repository.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d/
Solution 4 - Bash
One way to solve this is to do the redirection in a subshell:
sudo sh -c 'echo "[some repository]" >> /etc/apt/sources.list'
That way, the sh process is executed under sudo and therefore has the necessary privileges to open the redirected output to /etc/apt/sources.list.
Solution 5 - Bash
Following works for me
sudo echo "deb http://downloads-distro.mongodb.org/repo/ubuntu-upstart dist 10gen" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/10gen.list
Solution 6 - Bash
In Karmic, you can just use the add-apt-repository command, at least for PPAs.
For example:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:docky
Solution 7 - Bash
Here is solution without using piping, just simple in-place editing:
sudo ex +'$put = \"[some repository]\"' -cwq /etc/apt/sources.list
The ex is equivalent to vi -e.
Solution 8 - Bash
If you were to login as su (if you have the privilege) the same command will work just fine...
su
echo "[some repository]" >> /etc/apt/sources.list
If you are not the superuser then go with Lothar's answer.
If you do it this way be sure to exit from su so that you are not running unnecessary programs as root (superuser)
Solution 9 - Bash
first open or create the file you want to edit it by the following command
> 1- sudo nano file_name > > 2- edit the file after it opens > > 3- ctrl+x > > 4- press 'Y' to say yes
and you are done.
Solution 10 - Bash
interesting, 1- remove the file with rm , 2 create the file again with touch, 3 use printf to print formatted, 4 pipe with tee to the file(THIS IS FOR DEBIAN) replace to your tastes and likes
sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list && sudo touch /etc/apt/sources.list && sudo chmod +rwx /etc/apt/sources.list && sudo printf "deb http://deb.debian.org/debian buster main contrib non-free
deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian buster main contrib non-free
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian-security/ buster/updates main contrib non-free
deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian-security/ buster/updates main contrib non-free
deb http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-updates main contrib non-free
deb-src http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-updates main contrib non-free" | sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list