What I Do Before Letting Any App Run as Root on My Linux Server

Giving an app root access is like handing over your house keys — it better be worth it.

Yet I see devs, ops teams, and even security folks blindly installing tools that demand sudo, run as root, or worse… start at boot without limits.

Here’s my personal checklist — the exact steps I follow before I let anything run with elevated privileges on Linux or Ubuntu.

🔍 1. Read the Startup Script (Yes, Actually Read It)

If the app comes with an install script or .service file, I open it and look for:

• sudo or su commands
• chmod 777 (red flag)
• Custom binaries with no integrity checks
• Any curl-pipe-bash installation 🤦

✅ Example:

cat ./install.sh

If it’s messy, obfuscated, or reaches out to external URLs — I don’t trust it yet.

🔐 2. Ask: “Does This Really Need Root?”

You’d be shocked how many apps say they need root, but don’t.

✅ I try installing or running it as a non-root user first.