Open a file as normal, forgetting to use “sudo”, and therefore viewing a read-only file.
Then mistakenly try to edit the read-only file in the traditional manner.
:w !sudo tee%
At this point we will be presented with the content of the file and a prompt to press ENTER or type another command.
To simply save the file and move on we just press ENTER, and then press the letter “O” (oh).
(NOTE: “L” seems to do pretty much the same thing.)
The file will be saved but remains open in vi/vim for more editing or reading.
We can now exit normally by typing “:q!” since the file is still open as “read-only”.
What the command does:
:w = Write a file.
!sudo = Call shell sudo command.
tee = The output of the vi/vim write command is redirected using tee.
% = Triggers the use of the current filename.
Simply put, the ‘tee’ command is run as sudo and follows the vi/vim command on the current filename given.
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