How to run multiple commands in sudo under Linux or Unix

sudo syntax to run multiple commands

The syntax is:
sudo sh -c 'command1 && command2'
sudo -- sh -c 'command1 && command2'
sudo -u userNameHere -- sh -c 'command1; command2'
sudo -- sh -c 'command1; command2'
sudo -- bash -c 'command1; command2'
sudo -i -- 'command1; command2; command3'
sudo -i -- sh -c 'command1 && command2 && command3'
sudo -u oracle -s -- "cmd1; cmd2; cmd3"


Examples

Run date and who am i command:
$ sudo -- sh -c 'date; who am i'
Sample outputs:

[sudo] password for vivek: 
Tue May  2 19:52:08 IST 2017
vivek    pts/0        2017-05-02 18:44 (10.8.0.2)

You can run command as mysql user:
$ sudo -u mysql -- sh -c "/home/mysql/backup.sh; /home/mysql/mirror.py"
Update your server in a single go using sudo with the help of apt-get command:
$ sudo -- sh -c 'apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y upgrade'

Animated gif 01: sudo command in action

Understanding sudo command options

To run multiple commands sudo we used the following options:

1. -- : A -- signals the end of options and disables further option processing for sudo command.
2. sh -c : Run sh shell with given commands
3. bash -c : Same as above.
4. 'apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y upgrade' : First update repo and apply upgrades if update was successful.
5. -i : Execute the shell specified by the target user’s password database entry as a login shell. This means that login-specific resource files such as .profile, .bash_profile or .login will be read by the shell.
6. -s : Run the shell specified by the SHELL environment variable if it is set or the shell specified by the invoking user’s password database entry.

A note about using sudo command in a shell script

Here is a sample shell script that shows how to use or run multiple commands with sudo:

#!/bin/bash
echo "Running commands as a root user..."
sudo -- -sh -c <<EOF
apt-get update
apt-get -y upgrade
apt-get -y install nginx 
apt-get -y remove nano
apt-get clean
echo "All done."
EOF

A note about using sudo with bash shell aliases

The syntax is as follows for shell aliases:

alias foo="sudo -- sh -c 'cmd1 && cmd2'"
alias bar='sudo -- sh -c "cmd1 && cmd2"'

For example add the following to ~/.bashrc or ~/.bash_aliases file:

# update debian/ubuntu box using apt
# command line when type update 
alias update='sudo -- sh -c "apt update && apt upgrade"'

See how to create a permanent Bash alias and 30 handy bash shell aliases for more info.

Conclusion

You learned how to run multiple commands using sudo command under a Linux or Unix-like systems. For more info see sudo man page by typing the following command or visit this page here:
man sudo