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Sudo Password Handling - Quick Reference

When Sudo is Required

Sudo password is needed when fix_local_hosts: true in your server configuration. This modifies:

  • /etc/hosts - Maps server hostnames to IP addresses
  • ~/.ssh/config - Adds SSH connection shortcuts

Quick Solutions

✅ Best: Cache Credentials First

sudo -v && provisioning -c server create

Credentials cached for 5 minutes, no prompts during operation.

✅ Alternative: Disable Host Fixing

# In your settings.k or server config
fix_local_hosts = false

No sudo required, manual /etc/hosts management.

✅ Manual: Enter Password When Prompted

provisioning -c server create
# Enter password when prompted
# Or press CTRL-C to cancel

CTRL-C Handling

CTRL-C Behavior

IMPORTANT: Pressing CTRL-C at the sudo password prompt will interrupt the entire operation due to how Unix signals work. This is expected behavior and cannot be caught by Nushell.

When you press CTRL-C at the password prompt:

Password: [CTRL-C]

Error: nu::shell::error
  × Operation interrupted

Why this happens: SIGINT (CTRL-C) is sent to the entire process group, including Nushell itself. The signal propagates before exit code handling can occur.

Graceful Handling (Non-CTRL-C Cancellation)

The system does handle these cases gracefully:

No password provided (just press Enter):

Password: [Enter]

⚠ Operation cancelled - sudo password required but not provided
ℹ Run 'sudo -v' first to cache credentials, or run without --fix-local-hosts

Wrong password 3 times:

Password: [wrong]
Password: [wrong]
Password: [wrong]

⚠ Operation cancelled - sudo password required but not provided
ℹ Run 'sudo -v' first to cache credentials, or run without --fix-local-hosts

To avoid password prompts entirely:

# Best: Pre-cache credentials (lasts 5 minutes)
sudo -v && provisioning -c server create

# Alternative: Disable host modification
# Set fix_local_hosts = false in your server config

Common Commands

# Cache sudo for 5 minutes
sudo -v

# Check if cached
sudo -n true && echo "Cached" || echo "Not cached"

# Create alias for convenience
alias prvng='sudo -v && provisioning'

# Use the alias
prvng -c server create

Troubleshooting

IssueSolution
“Password required” errorRun sudo -v first
CTRL-C doesn’t work cleanlyUpdate to latest version
Too many password promptsSet fix_local_hosts = false
Sudo not availableMust disable fix_local_hosts
Wrong password 3 timesRun sudo -k to reset, then sudo -v

Environment-Specific Settings

Development (Local)

fix_local_hosts = true  # Convenient for local testing

CI/CD (Automation)

fix_local_hosts = false  # No interactive prompts

Production (Servers)

fix_local_hosts = false  # Managed by configuration management

What fix_local_hosts Does

When enabled:

  1. Removes old hostname entries from /etc/hosts
  2. Adds new hostname → IP mapping to /etc/hosts
  3. Adds SSH config entry to ~/.ssh/config
  4. Removes old SSH host keys for the hostname

When disabled:

  • You manually manage /etc/hosts entries
  • You manually manage ~/.ssh/config entries
  • SSH to servers using IP addresses instead of hostnames

Security Note

The provisioning tool never stores or caches your sudo password. It only:

  • Checks if sudo credentials are already cached (via sudo -n true)
  • Detects when sudo fails due to missing credentials
  • Provides helpful error messages and exit cleanly

Your sudo password timeout is controlled by the system’s sudoers configuration (default: 5 minutes).