Linux: Run Last Command as Sudo

Objective: You wanted to run a command as root but you forgot to use sudo. There is a useful shell shortcut (using Event Designators) to re-run the previous command under sudo.

Let’s say you tried to cat the /etc/shadow file as a normal user.

You will get permission denied, because the shadow file is only readable by root. To repeat the last command with sudo, simply use the following syntax.

The ‘!!‘ syntax is a reference to a command line entry in the history list. It refers to the previous command. An alternative way to run the previous command is to use ‘!-1’.

The ‘!-1‘ syntax means refer to the previous command -n, where n is 1 in this case.

ibrahim = { interested_in(unix, linux, android, open_source, reverse_engineering); coding(c, shell, php, python, java, javascript, nodejs, react); plays_on(xbox, ps4); linux_desktop_user(true); }