So, I've been working on a Ruby script that blocks reddit during my school hours (useful stuff). Here's the code:
require 'fileutils'
puts "-----------------------------------"
puts "Welcome to the hosts file modifier!"
puts "-----------------------------------"
puts "Option A: Use modified hosts"
puts "Option B: Use original hosts"
puts "Option C: Do nothing"
puts "Please enter your choice: "
input = gets.chomp.downcase
t = Time.now
# Time.now is used is conjunction with function 'original', in option 'b'
def modified
# This function copies the modified (redditblocking) hosts file from Documents to /etc
puts "Moving original hosts file out of /etc"
FileUtils.mv('/etc/hosts', '/Users/(usernameobscured)/Documents/OriginalHosts/hosts')
puts "Done. Now copying modified hosts to /etc"
FileUtils.cp('/Users/(usernameobscured)/Documents/ModifiedHosts/hosts', '/etc/hosts')
puts "Done"
end
def original
# This function deletes the modified hosts file from /etc (since we have a copy in Documents)
# and then moves the original hosts file back to /etc
puts "Deleting modified hosts file from /etc"
FileUtils.rm_rf('etc/hosts')
puts "Done. Now copying original hosts to /etc"
FileUtils.mv('/Users/(usernameobscured)/Documents/OriginalHosts/hosts', '/etc/hosts')
puts "Done"
end
def nothing
# This does... nothing. Literally.
puts "Doing nothing"
end
if input == 'a'
modified
end
if input == 'b'
# Here's when using Time.now becomes helpful: if the hour of the day is less than 5PM,
# then the original hosts file can't be moved back (don't wanna be on reddit during school hours!)
if t.hour > 17
original
elsif t.hour < 17
puts "Too early to use original hosts file. Come back at 5PM"
end
end
if input == 'c'
# Nothing...
nothing
end
As you can see, it moves a modified hosts file from my Documents folder to /etc. The problem I'm having though, as per OS X/Unix security measures, is that I have to run the script via sudo or logged in as root. This is a minor nuisance, however, it's one that I believe can be fixed within the code. How can I get superuser privileges, OR write access to /etc temporarily, via my ruby script, so that I can simply run the script without sudo/root?
