https://susam.in/maze/vim-sudo-write-trick.html

Vim Sudo Write Trick

By Susam Pal on 25 Aug 2005

The Trick 

You open a file, edit it, and save it only to get the E45 error
message that says:

E45: 'readonly' option is set (add ! to override)

You now realize that only root can edit the file. What do you? Start
over? No, instead try this:

:w !sudo tee "%"

I learnt this trick recently from the comment section of Tip #975 on
the Vim Tips website.

Explanation 

How does the :w !sudo tee "%" trick work? Let us look at the command
part-by-part:

  * :w !{cmd}

    Execute {cmd} with all lines in buffer as standard input.

  * "%"

    The % is replaced with the current filename. The quotes around it
    keeps the filename as a single argument even if it contains
    whitespace.

  * tee {file}

    The tee command is a Unix command (not a Vim command). It copies
    standard input to standard output and {file}.

More Information 

For more information on this command, enter the following commands in
Vim:

:help :w_c
:help current-file
:help :_%

Also, enter the following command in shell:

man tee

I hope this was fun!

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