Run msgconvert as non-root

[mvz]

Run msgconvert as non-root

[vielhuber]

wow, thank you!

solution:

# unset exported perl variables
whoami # root
nano ~/.bashrc
comment/disable all export PERL lines at the bottom
logout/login again

# install as root, but not in /root but in /usr/local
whoami # root
cpan -i Email::Outlook::Message
which msgconvert # /usr/local/bin/msgconvert

# test as apache
su -s /bin/bash apache
msgconvert

[mvz]

Hi @vielhuber,

In general, msgconvert should run as non-root just fine. In fact, I would never run it as root. Here's what I would advise:

1. Please check if you can run other programs form your web application.
2. If running other programs works, but running msgconvert doesn't, please post more information here, such as

• Where is msgconvert installed?
• Where are the programs that you can run installed?
• How are you executing the programs?
• What failure messages do you get?

3. If running other programs does not work: Please ask your question on a general-purpose forum like stack-overflow. You should probably include most of the points above in your question.

Good luck debugging!

[vielhuber]

Please check if you can run other programs form your web application.

Yes, other programs run.

Where is msgconvert installed?
Where are the programs that you can run installed?
How are you executing the programs?
What failure messages do you get?

They are usually installed unter /usr/local/bin/.

Can you give me some small hints what's the correct / usual way to run msgconvert as apache (as a non root user)?

• Use cpanm(?)
• Use local::lib(?)

Thanks in advance.

[mvz]

Where is msgconvert installed?
Where are the programs that you can run installed?
How are you executing the programs?
What failure messages do you get?

They are usually installed unter /usr/local/bin/.

How can I help you if you don't answer any of my questions?

[vielhuber]

Where is msgconvert installed?

which msgconvert
/root/perl5/bin/msgconvert

Where are the programs that you can run installed?

/usr/local/bin/

How are you executing the programs?

su -s /bin/bash apache
/root/perl5/bin/msgconvert

What failure messages do you get?

Permission denied

[mvz]

Yes, that makes sense. The way you installed msgconvert makes it only available to the root user. Other users can't access files inside /root.

As I understand it, cpan should only install modules in /root/perl5 if you run cpan -I Email::Outlook::Message. That's -I with a capital I. You should user the lower-case -i instead. If that doesn't work there's something wrong with your CPAN configuration.

[vielhuber]

Hello, thanks for your answer.

This is what I further tried (I think I'm close):

whoami # root
mkdir /usr/share/httpd/.cpan
chown apache:apache /usr/share/httpd/.cpan
su -s /bin/bash apache
cpan -i Email::Outlook::Message

Now It installs lots of stuff but reaches finally the point:

...
Running make install
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ERROR: Can't create '/root/perl5/bin'
mkdir /root/perl5: Permission denied at /usr/share/perl5/ExtUtils/Install.pm line 494.

I just tested out the procedure on another machine and it's exacly the same.

[mvz]

I have no idea why CPAN would try to install to /root/perl5/bin even when running as the apache user. Maybe that's a centos thing? I suggest asking on StackOverflow because I'm all out of ideas.

[vielhuber]

Thanks, can you give me another hint:

Why are there so many threads/tutorials out there when this should work out of the box?

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11367399/installing-cpan-modules-without-root
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2980297/how-can-i-use-cpan-as-a-non-root-user
https://www.perlmonks.org/?node_id=1053274
http://alumni.soe.ucsc.edu/~you/notes/perl-module-install.html

[mvz]

Those are all about installing as a non-root user. I don't know what's going on. It used to be that non-root users could just do cpan -i.

These solutions all seem totally over-the-top.

However, they do give a hint: Perhaps the PERL5LIB variable is set to something like /root/perl5. This won't be reset if you use su without --login.

But anyway, you need to look for answers for system-wide installation of cpan modules, since you actually have root access. This means those non-root solutions do not apply to you.