How can I execute a bash function using sudo?

Question

I tried exporting the function and then executing it with bash, but that doesn\'t work:

$ export -f my_func
$ sudo bash -c \'my_func\' 
bash: my_func: comma         


        

Answer 1

An alternative to calling your function with sudo is to just move the "sudo " calls inside your function. For example, I was wanting to set up a shortcut function in OS X for forwarding localhost to a particular port.

function portforward() {
    echo "y" | sudo ipfw flush;
    sudo ipfw add 100 fwd 127.0.0.1,$1 tcp from any to any 80 in;
    echo "Forwarding localhost to port $1!";
}

The function hits sudo and asks for my password. (Then pipes "y" to a prompt for ipfw, not related to this question). After that, sudo is cached so the rest of the function executes without the need to enter a password.

Essentially, this just runs like:

portforward 8000
Password:
Forwarding localhost to port 8000!

And fills my need because I only need to enter the password once and it's taken care of. Although it's a little ugly if you fail to enter the password the first time. Extra points for detecting whether the first sudo succeeded and exiting the function if not.