op

Operator access. A flexible means for system administrators to grant trusted users access to certain root operations without having to give them full superuser privileges.

Syntax 
      op mnemonic [arg] 

Key
    -V   Show version number.
   
    -l   List available commands.
         Note that this will only display commands you are permitted to run.

Configuration

Configuration entries are read from /etc/op.conf and all files in lexical order from /etc/op.d with the extension .conf. Files must be owned by root and not have group or other permissions set.

The fields of the entries in the configuration files are separated by white space. Each entry can span several lines and continues until the next alphanumeric string is found at the beginning of a lines (which is taken to be the next mnemonic or variable definition, and thus the beginning of a new entry). Comments can be embedded beginning with a # character. Each entry in the configuration files has the following form:

mnemonic

command [ arg ... ] ; [ option ... ]

or

var=value

Key:
var a variable name, which must be an upper case alphanumeric identifier. Variables are expanded when reading options.

value the remainder of the line is taken to be the value of the variable.

mnemonic a unique, alphanumeric identifier for each operator function.

command the full pathname of the executable to be run by op when the associated mnemonic is chosen.

arg(s) any arguments, either literal or variable, needed by command. Literal arguments are specified directly, like specific command options (0Gun) or files (/dev/rmt20). Variable arguments are specified here as $1, $2 ... $n;
For a full list look in the options section of the op man page( man op ).

$* indicates any number trailing arguments.

Examples
Example /etc/op.conf:

# Define some users
OPERATORS=(fred|barry)
# Define hosts that Fred is restricted to
FRED_HOSTS=(alpha|beta)
# Define hosts that Barry is restricted to
BARRY_HOSTS=(theta|gamma)
# Define user/host access list
ACCESS_LIST=fred@FRED_HOSTS|barry@BARRY_HOSTS

# 'op shell' - gives user a root shell
shell
/bin/su -;
users=ACCESS_LIST

environment

password
help="Root shell"

# 'op reboot' - reboot system
reboot
/sbin/reboot;
users=ACCESS_LIST

password
help="Reboot system"

# 'op shutdown <time>' - shutdown at a
# certain time. Restricts argument to
# valid values only
shutdown
/sbin/shutdown -h $1;
users=ACCESS_LIST
$1=(now|[0-1]?[0-9]:[0-9][0-9]|2[0-3]:[0-5][0-9]|+[0-9]+)
help="Shutdown system"

# Switch inetd on and off, shows complex
# shell example and 'string' arguments. $1
# in this example is expanded by op
inetd /bin/sh -c '
case $1 in
on) /usr/sbin/inetd -s ;;
off) /usr/bin/pkill inetd ;;
esac
';
users=ACCESS_LIST
$1=on|off

“He who reigns within himself, and rules passions, desires, and fears, is more than a king” ~ Milton

Related linux commands

chroot - Run a command with a different root directory.
sudo - Execute a command as another user.
su - Substitute user identity.
Equivalent Windows command: runas - Execute a program under a different user account.