I'm trying to figure out a way to run a Java application with root privileges from an account that doesn't have root privileges. I tried using consolehelper and it will launch other applications as root but when I try using /usr/java/jdk/java -jar /location/app.jar it asks for the root password but doesn't launch the application.
Have you tried the Java Service Wrapper? ( Java Service Wrapper - What is the Java Service Wrapper? )
I haven't used it but from my brief reading it seemed like it may help. As far as why ConsoleHelper isn't working I'm guessing when you try to launch it it's having to run something else as well and that second application isn't getting the root permissions sent down.