# Likely bug in broctl **URL:** \ **Category:** Zeek\ **Created:** [April 15, 2017, 4:17am UTC](https://community.zeek.org/t/likely-bug-in-broctl/4779 "2017-04-15T04:17:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![LinuxBSDos.com](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@LinuxBSDos.com](https://community.zeek.org/u/LinuxBSDos.com)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 4:17am UTC](https://community.zeek.org/t/likely-bug-in-broctl/4779/1 "2017-04-15T04:17:14Z")
Hello: On an Ubuntu 16.04 server, I have Bro executables in /usr/local/bro/bin, which is in the PATH of all users on the system. As root, I can invoke all the commands by just specifying the relative paths. As a standard user, I can do the same for the commands except broctl. If I type, for example, "broctl --h", it returns the following error messages: \ Traceback (most recent call last):    File "/usr/local/bro/bin/broctl", line 830, in \      sys.exit(main())    File "/usr/local/bro/bin/broctl", line 797, in main      loop = BroCtlCmdLoop(BroCtl, interactive, cmd)    File "/usr/local/bro/bin/broctl", line 25, in \_\_init\_\_      self.broctl = broctl\_class(ui=self)    File "/usr/local/bro/lib/broctl/BroControl/broctl.py", line 69, in \_\_init\_\_      level=logging.DEBUG)    File "/usr/lib/python2.7/logging/\_\_init\_\_.py", line 1547, in basicConfig      hdlr = FileHandler(filename, mode)    File "/usr/lib/python2.7/logging/\_\_init\_\_.py", line 913, in \_\_init\_\_      StreamHandler.\_\_init\_\_(self, self.\_open())    File "/usr/lib/python2.7/logging/\_\_init\_\_.py", line 943, in \_open      stream = open(self.baseFilename, self.mode) IOError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/usr/local/bro/spool/debug.log' \ "Permission denied" seems to make sense, but if I type "sudo broctl --h", I get "sudo: broctl: command not found". It only works if I specify the full path with sudo, so "sudo /usr/local/bro/bin/broctl --h" works, but "/usr/local/bro/bin/broctl --h" does not. Again, this is just for broctl. Thanks, -finid- ---
**Author:** ![Daniel\_Thayer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8dc957/32.png) [@Daniel\_Thayer](https://community.zeek.org/u/Daniel_Thayer)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 4:48am UTC](https://community.zeek.org/t/likely-bug-in-broctl/4779/2 "2017-04-15T04:48:42Z")
If you upgrade to the newest release of Bro, then the error message is more user-friendly. The error is due to the fact that broctl needs to write to the "spool" and "logs" directories. This is explained in the broctl documentation: [https://www.bro.org/sphinx/components/broctl/README.html#using-brocontrol-as-an-unprivileged-user](https://www.bro.org/sphinx/components/broctl/README.html#using-brocontrol-as-an-unprivileged-user) ---
**Author:** ![James\_inthe\_box](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6f9a4e/32.png) [@James\_inthe\_box](https://community.zeek.org/u/James_inthe_box)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 11:12am UTC](https://community.zeek.org/t/likely-bug-in-broctl/4779/3 "2017-04-15T11:12:02Z")
> ```auto > If you upgrade to the newest release of Bro, then > the error message is more user-friendly. > > The error is due to the fact that broctl needs to > write to the "spool" and "logs" directories. > This is explained in the broctl documentation: > [https://www.bro.org/sphinx/components/broctl/README.html#using-brocontrol-as-an-unprivileged-user > > ](https://www.bro.org/sphinx/components/broctl/README.html#using-brocontrol-as-an-unprivileged-user > > ) > > ``` And as for /usr/local/bro/bin, add that to your secure\_path= line in /etc/sudoers file. James ---
**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/zeek/original/1X/f09d732bc2cc7c7cc7e35db67cf4e1d5233ce7a7.png) [@system](https://community.zeek.org/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2022, 3:44pm UTC](https://community.zeek.org/t/likely-bug-in-broctl/4779/4 "2022-05-06T15:44:50Z")