prompter: On Arch Linux, how do I allow a user to use `sudo` for a specific command without that user having to use their password?  Say for example, allowing a user `josh` to use the `systemctl ...`.  It would be even nicer if the user can only use specific sub-commands of `systemctl` such as `systemctl start/stop/status`

assistant: To allow a user to use `sudo` for a specific command without having to enter their password on Arch Linux, you can edit the sudoers file using the `visudo` command.

1. Open a terminal and run the command `sudo visudo`. This will open the sudoers file in the nano text editor.

2. Add the following line to the end of the file to allow the user "josh" to run the "systemctl" command without a password:

```javascript
josh ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/systemctl start, /usr/bin/systemctl stop, /usr/bin/systemctl status
```
This line allows the user "josh" to run the "systemctl start", "systemctl stop" and "systemctl status" commands as the superuser without having to enter a password.

3. Save the changes to the file by pressing `Ctrl+X`, then `Y`, and then `Enter`.

Now, the user "josh" can use the `sudo` command with the specified `systemct` sub-commands without being prompted for a password. It is important to note that editing the sudoers file can be dangerous and should be done with caution.

prompter: I wrote a macro for Vim which automatcially adds users to the sudoers file.  How do I configure `visudo` to open Vim?

assistant: To configure visudo to open Vim when you use the command, you will need to edit the sudoers file. You can do this by running the command sudo visudo. This will open the sudoers file in the nano text editor.

At the bottom of the file, add the line "EDITOR=/usr/bin/vim", and then press Ctrl+X, then Y, and then Enter to save the changes. Now, when you use the visudo command, it will open the sudoers file in Vim instead of nano.

assistant: There is a hard-coded list of one or more editors that visudo will use set at compile-time that may be overridden via the editor sudoers Default variable. This list defaults to vi. Normally, visudo does not honor the VISUAL or EDITOR environment variables unless they contain an editor in the aforementioned editors list. However, if visudo is configured with the --with-env-editor option or the env_editor Default variable is set in sudoers, visudo will use any the editor defines by VISUAL or EDITOR. Note that this can be a security hole since it allows the user to execute any program they wish simply by setting VISUAL or EDITOR.  

You can add this to the sudoers file ( Open with visudo )
`Defaults editor=/path/to/editor`

prompter: Elaborate on how that could be a security hole.

assistant: This line allows the user "josh" to run the "systemctl start", "systemctl stop" and "systemctl status" commands as the superuser without having to enter a p

Save the changes to the file by pressing Ctrl+X, then Y, and then Enter.
Now, the user "josh" can use thommand wd systemct sub-comithout being prompted for a password. It is important to note that editing the sudoers file can be dangerous and should be done with caution.

prompter: Now how could I do that on windows?

assistant: To allow a user to use sudo for a specific command without requiring a password, you can use the `visudo` command to edit the sudoers file. Here are the steps to do this for your example of allowing the user "josh" to use `systemctl start/stop/status` without a password:

1. Open a terminal and log in as the root user or a user with sudo privileges.

2. Type the following command to open the sudoers file in the terminal-based text editor nano:

```
sudo visudo -f /etc/sudoers.d/josh
```
This command will open a new sudoers file named "josh" in the `/etc/sudoers.d/` directory. This is the recommended way to add custom sudoers rules, as it keeps them separate from the main sudoers file.

3. In the nano editor, add the following line:

```
josh ALL=NOPASSWD:/usr/bin/systemctl start, /usr/bin/systemctl stop, /usr/bin/systemctl status
```
This line allows the user "josh" to run the `start`, `stop`, and `status` sub-commands of the `systemctl` command without being prompted for a password. The `NOPASSWD:` option specifies that no password is required.

4. Save the file by pressing `Ctrl+O` and then exit the editor by pressing `Ctrl+X`.

5. Verify that the syntax of the sudoers file is correct by running the following command:

```
sudo visudo -c -f /etc/sudoers.d/josh
```
If there are any syntax errors in the file, this command will report them.

Now the user "josh" can use `sudo systemctl start/stop/status` without being prompted for a password.

prompter: What if I wanted user josh to be able to run any program as sudo without a password?

assistant: You can use `NOPASSWD` directive in sudoers(5). The main file may be edit with `visudo`, or be placed into sudoers include file into `/etc/sudoers.d`

To allow running `systemctl` without a password, you can use

```
user ALL = (root) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/systemctl
```
This line means that user `user` can run `/usr/bin/systemctl` on all hosts, where the file is located. 
You can specify name of your host instead of ALL.

Please note, that path to `systemctl` must be absolute. 

You can specify command line arguments

```
user ALL = (root) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/systemctl start*
user ALL = (root) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/systemctl stop*
user ALL = (root) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/systemctl status*
```

In this case `sudo systemctl start` will not ask for a password, while `sudo systemctl` will.

Additionally, you can create a folder with scripts and provide sudo access with no password to all executables in the folder

```
user ALL = (root) NOPASSWD: /usr/scripts/
```

Please note, for your changes to take effect, your changes must be placed in the end, as per sudoers(5):

> When multiple entries match for a user, they are applied in order.  Where there are multiple matches,
the last match is used (which is not necessarily the most specific match).

prompter: I don't wan't to mess around with config files, is there a way to achieve this with commands ?