Run shell command in jenkins as root user? - linux

Question

I have recently started using Jenkins for integration. All was well until I was running jobs on master node without shell command but I have to run jobs on master as well as slave node which contains shell commands to. I am not able to run those shell commands as root user. I have tried
Using SSH Keys.
Setting user name in shell commands.
Using sudo.
I am getting permission denied error every time I use any of the above methods.

Answer 1

I would suggest against running the jenkins user as root. This could expose the operating system and all of the repo's which jenkins can build.
Running any script as root is a security risk, but a slightly safer method would be to grant the jenkins user sudo access to only run the one script, without needing a password.
sudo visudo
and add the following:
jenkins ALL = NOPASSWD: /var/lib/jenkins/jobs/[job name]/workspace/script
Double check your path via the console log of a failed build script. The one shown here is the default.
Now within the jenkins task you can call sudo $WORKSPACE/your script

Answer 2

You need to modify the permission for jenkins user so that you can run the shell commands.
You can install the jenkins as as service (download the rpm package), You might need to change the ports because by default it runs http on 8080 and AJP on 8009 port.
Following process is for CentOS
1. Open up the this script (using VIM or other editor):
vim /etc/sysconfig/jenkins
2. Find this $JENKINS_USER and change to “root”:
$JENKINS_USER="root"
3. Then change the ownership of Jenkins home, webroot and logs:
chown -R root:root /var/lib/jenkins
chown -R root:root /var/cache/jenkins
chown -R root:root /var/log/jenkins
4) Restart Jenkins and check the user has been changed:
service jenkins restart
ps -ef | grep jenkins
Now you should be able to run the Jenkins jobs as the root user and all the shell command will be executed as root.

Answer 3

For Linux try to follow these steps:-
This worked for me.
Change Jenkins user: sudo vi /etc/default/jenkins
Change user root or your user that you use to access to your files:
$JENKINS_USER="root"
Execute using the user that you setup before:
sudo chown -R root:root /var/lib/jenkins
sudo chown -R root:root /var/cache/jenkins
sudo chown -R root:root /var/log/jenkins
Run as a services:
service jenkins restart
Or
systemctl jenkins restart
You can execute jenkins has a process and disable headless mode for Linux with UI.
/etc/alternatives/java -Djava.awt.headless=false -DJENKINS_HOME=/var/lib/jenkins -jar /usr/lib/jenkins/jenkins.war --logfile=/var/log/jenkins/jenkins.log --webroot=/var/cache/jenkins/war --httpPort=8080 --debug=5 --handlerCountMax=100 --handlerCountMaxIdle=20
Validate Jenkins is running currently:
ps -ef | grep jenkins

Answer 4

Another option is to set up a jenkins "Slave" that is actually running as root on the master and restrict it to tied jobs, then point your job at that slave. Far from ideal but certainly a quick solution.

Answer 5

Or you can change the permission of docker.sock. Make sure your docker container is running the user as root
docker exec <jenkinsContainerID> chmod 777 /var/run/docker.sock

Answer 6

You just need to run the shell command on Linux machine using Root privileges from Jenkins.
Steps :
1) sudo vi /etc/sudoers
2) Add line :
jenkins ALL=NOPASSWD:/path of script/
3) From Jenkins,run the script on remote shell using sudo .
for eg : sudo ps -ef
4) Build Jenkins job now.
This job runs the script on Linux machine using root privileges.