How to Run Scripts and Commands with sudo in Linux

Updated: 22 October 2026 · Applies to: sudo 1.9.15p5 (Ubuntu 24.04), 1.9.16p2 (Debian 13), 1.9.17p2 (AlmaLinux 10.2) and sudo-rs 0.2.13 (Ubuntu 26.04), all tested

To run a shell script with sudo, give sudo the path to the script, not only its name: sudo ./backup.sh from the script's folder, or sudo /home/alice/bin/backup.sh from anywhere. A bare name such as sudo backup.sh fails with command not found even when the script runs fine without sudo, because sudo replaces your PATH with the secure_path from /etc/sudoers. If the script is not executable, run it through the shell: sudo bash ./backup.sh.

sudo basics: run a command as root

• sudo COMMAND runs one command as root, for example sudo apt update. According to the sudoers manual, sudo asks for your own password, not root's.
• sudo -u deploy COMMAND runs the command as another user (here deploy).
• sudo -i opens a root login shell; sudo -s opens a root shell without the login files. Type exit to leave.
• sudo !! repeats your previous command with sudo (a Bash history feature, interactive shells only).
• sudo -l lists what you are allowed to run.

If sudo refuses you completely, your user has no sudo rights yet: see User Is Not in the sudoers File: Fix It on Debian and Ubuntu or Add a User to wheel for sudo on AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, RHEL. On Ubuntu 26.04 (sudo-rs) the refusal reads sudo: I'm sorry deploy. I'm afraid I can't do that.

Run a shell script with sudo, step by step

1. Start the script with a shebang line such as #!/bin/bash and make it executable: chmod +x backup.sh.
2. Run it with a path: sudo ./backup.sh (current folder) or sudo /full/path/backup.sh.
3. If the script is in a folder on your own PATH (such as ~/bin), let your shell find the full path for sudo: sudo "$(command -v backup.sh)".
4. Pass arguments as usual: sudo ./backup.sh --full.

Lab example from Ubuntu 26.04 with a test script that prints the user and the PATH it gets (~/bin is on alice's PATH):

portcheck.sh

Output:

Running as: alice

sudo portcheck.sh

Output:

sudo: 'portcheck.sh': command not found

sudo ~/bin/portcheck.sh

Output:

Running as: root
PATH is: /usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/snap/bin

Classic sudo (Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 13, AlmaLinux 10) prints the same error without quotes: sudo: portcheck.sh: command not found.

Why sudo says command not found: secure_path

sudo does not use your PATH. It searches only the folders in secure_path, so your own folders (~/bin, ~/.local/bin, a project folder) are never searched. The defaults we found:

• Ubuntu 24.04 and 26.04: /usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/snap/bin
• Debian 13: the same without /snap/bin
• AlmaLinux 10: /sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin (no /usr/local/bin or /usr/local/sbin)

Check yours with sudo grep secure_path /etc/sudoers. Classic sudo also shows it in sudo -l.

Workarounds that work, and ones that do not

• Install the script where sudo looks (best for scripts you use often): sudo install -m 755 -o root -g root portcheck.sh /usr/local/sbin/portcheck. On Ubuntu and Debian, sudo portcheck then works. On AlmaLinux 10 it still gave sudo: portcheck: command not found, because /usr/local is not in its secure_path: call it as sudo /usr/local/sbin/portcheck.
• sudo env "PATH=$PATH" portcheck.sh works on all four systems, but it runs root with your PATH. Use it for a one-off test only.
• sudo -E and sudo --preserve-env=PATH do not help: in our tests both still ended in command not found. sudo-rs on Ubuntu 26.04 also prints sudo: preserving the entire environment is not supported, '-E' is ignored.
• Do not add your home folder to secure_path. Anyone who can write to a folder in secure_path can place a script there and get it run as root. If you change sudoers at all, use visudo (see how to fix a broken sudoers file).

Other errors when running a script with sudo

• Script not executable: classic sudo says sudo: ./bin/portcheck.sh: command not found; sudo-rs says sudo: cannot execute '/home/alice/bin/portcheck.sh': Permission denied (os error 13). Run chmod +x, or sudo bash ./portcheck.sh.
• sudo sh script.sh gives a syntax error: on Debian and Ubuntu /bin/sh is dash, so Bash features fail, for example Syntax error: "(" unexpected for an array. Use sudo bash script.sh. On AlmaLinux /bin/sh is Bash.
• sudo -u deploy ~/bin/script.sh fails: the other user cannot enter your home folder (mode 750 on Ubuntu, 700 on Debian 13 and AlmaLinux 10). Classic sudo says unable to execute ... Permission denied, sudo-rs says command not found. Put scripts that several users run in /usr/local/sbin or /opt.

Let a user run one script as root

1. Install the script owned by root, so the user cannot change it: sudo install -m 755 -o root -g root backup.sh /usr/local/sbin/backup.sh. If the user can edit the script, the rule below gives them full root access.
2. Create a rule with sudo visudo -f /etc/sudoers.d/deploy-backup:

   deploy ALL=(root) NOPASSWD: /usr/local/sbin/backup.sh

3. Test it as the user (lab output from Ubuntu 26.04, host name replaced with vps):

   sudo -l

   Output:

   User deploy may run the following commands on vps:
       (root) NOPASSWD: /usr/local/sbin/backup.sh

   sudo /usr/local/sbin/backup.sh --full

   Output:

   backup.sh running as root with args: --full

Always call the script by its full path. On AlmaLinux 10, sudo backup.sh did not match the rule and asked for a password, because /usr/local/sbin is not in secure_path. According to the sudoers manual, a rule without arguments allows any arguments, and "" after the path allows none. More on passwordless rules: How to Run sudo Without a Password (sudoers NOPASSWD).

Make a script ask for sudo itself

Put this at the top of a script that needs root. It restarts the script through sudo with the same arguments:

#!/bin/bash
if [ "$(id -u)" -ne 0 ]; then
  exec sudo -- "$0" "$@"
fi
echo "Now running as $(id -un) with args: $*"

Run as alice from /usr/local/bin, it printed Now running as root with args: one two on all four test systems. If sudo keeps rejecting your password, see sudo 3 Incorrect Password Attempts: Fix and Set the Password.

Official documentation: sudoers manual and sudo manual.