Running PolicyKit (pkexec) Commands without Prompting for Authentication

Saturday, December 8th, 2018

PolicyKit pkexec – Running without Prompting for Authentication

The following guide explains how to configure a pkexec command to run without prompting for authentication.  This is helpful when you want to grant root access to key piece of the system (such as allowing virsh commands from another user when running KVM virtual machines) or just want to run a GUI command as root without having to login or use authentication. 

https://askubuntu.com/questions/383747/how-to-configure-pkexec-to-not-ask-for-password#answer-388660

Or in our own archive in case the above link disappears.

WinRar SFX Custom Start In and Target Paths on Desktop Shortcuts

Saturday, January 19th, 2013

WinRar SFX Custom Start In and Target Paths

When creating a self extracting installation wizard using WinRar, you may want to create a shortcut to your program on the user's desktop.  Typically, these parameters are specified in the "SFX options…" dialog.  In the "Advanced SFX options", click on the "Advanced" tab.  Here, you'll see a section called "Shortcuts".  If you create a shortcut using the "Add shortcut…" button, WinRAR will typically leave out an important undocumented feature.

If you create a desktop shortcut using the "Add shortcut…" button, make sure you set the "Destination folder" to just a slash "\" (no quotes) or the shortcut on the desktop will have the following properties:

Target: "D:\Install Directory\YourProgram.exe"
Start in:

Notice, there is no "Start in:" path.  To fix this, you need to add a "\" to the desktop shortcut parameters manually like so:

D, yourProgramsName.exe, \, "Shortcut Description", "Shortcut name",

Or, make sure you place a "\" (no quotes) for the "Destination folder" in the add shortcut helper.

This problem only affects desktop shortcuts and can be fixed by adding a "\" to the parameters for each desktop shortcut after the program's name.