How do I create a new file and edit it as root?

Question

I've tried: gksudo gedit /etc/xinetd.d/tftp (this is the path I need). I got an error message:

couldn't find the file /etc/xinetd.d/tftp
please check that you typed the location correctly and try again

What do I need to do?

Solution

My version of gedit (2.22.3) does create the file if it doesn't exist. If yours doesn't, you can create the file first with sudo touch /etc/xinetd.d/tftp.

I recommend using sudoedit /etc/xinetd.d/tftp instead. This uses your favorite editor, taken from the EDITOR environment variable, or a system default if you haven't expressed your preference. Add export EDITOR=/usr/bin/gedit to your ~/.profile if necessary.

See also How do I run a command as the system administrator (root).