sudo -e is to edit

Another interesting thing I just realised lately while reading the sudo manual page on Linux. The sudo command has an inbuilt option, '-e' to edit files. You do not have to invoke your favourite editor, provided that your EDITOR or VISUAL environment is set correctly. The '-e' option will do it for you. See the example below.

For many years before, when I wanted to edit a file with root permissions, I just did

[qmi@debian: ~]$ sudo vim /etc/shadow

Now, I use the '-e' option to sudo and leaving the editor out.

[qmi@debian: ~]$ sudo -e /etc/shadow

root:$6$[SAFEHASHDATAHERE]:15377:0:99999:7:::
daemon:*:15377:0:99999:7:::
bin:*:15377:0:99999:7:::
sys:*:15377:0:99999:7:::
sync:*:15377:0:99999:7:::
games:*:15377:0:99999:7:::
man:*:15377:0:99999:7:::
lp:*:15377:0:99999:7:::
mail:*:15377:0:99999:7:::
news:*:15377:0:99999:7:::

sudo: /etc/shadow unchanged

[qmi@debian: ~]$

A good sysadmin reads manuals, it pays off ;-)