Ok..ok...complete newbie alert...

I am tinkering with Red Hat 8.0 and using the Gnome GUI. I know this sounds real stupid but.... I can't delete a folder from the /usr directory (for example) via Gnome. The 'Move To Trash' option is greyed out of the right click menu.

Drag and dropping to Trash gives me the 'Error While Moving......???? Cannot be moved to Trash because you do not have permissions to change it or it's parent folder'.

OK.... I am the only user of this machine and when installing RPM's/updates etc.... it prompts me for my root password......

OK...the bottom line is..... why haven't I got permission to delete folders from my own PC despite the fact I am the Sys Admin?

Are you logged in as root?

Certain folders just require root access to modify. It's just a security feature to prevent you or another user from trashing the /usr directory. Remember, some important things live in there /usr/src/linux

If you really want your user account to modify the /usr directory, change the permissions so you can write/delete to it.

man chmod

if you log into the machine as a user other than root then you cant do any sys-admin functions unless you give the root password. the /usr partition is owned by the root and you dont have the permission to modify any files in it.

if you want to modify these files open the file explorer in superuser mode and then you can play with them.


manthram

From my understanding of being logged on as root yeah.....

I mean.... I log on as a normal user (as recommended) but when it comes to installation / updates etc.... Gnome prompts me for my Root password....I then get the key icon next to the time....

I am logged on as root no?

Or if I go to terminal and enter SU...and password....I am root?

yes if you go into the terminal and then su you are root. then you can do the operations in the terminal. but you will be still an ordinary user for the GUI context. so any time you launch a program owned by root then you have to give the root password.
if you want to use the program without entering the password every time logout and then login as "root" at the login page

manthram

if you "su root" or even better "su -" then you will be root. What is it that you are trying to remove and what command are you using to remove it?

OK....think I am getting confused....

I installed Linux a while ago... I set up a root account and a user account for myself as recommended.

Somewhere along the way I have forgotten about the root account and been logging in as the user and entering the root password when prompted by the GUI.... that's the difference right?

The next snag is.....can't remember what the root account is. How can I find out?

root account name is "root" and the password you gave for the "root password"

manthram

Brilliant....thank you all for putting up with my stupidty!!!

The only thing still confusing me....

If I log on as a standard user...and I have the key in bottom left by the clock.

The surely I am root albeit temporarily and should be able to delete anything I want.

Or am I still not quite with it?

When you log on all the programs you load from Gnome will be with your user account.

A work around is to go into a terminal window "su -" then load the program... that is type "nautilus" and it will load the file manager as root.

This is the way it works.

You have 2 users, root and yourself. You never login directly as root, you only switch certain programs temporarily to root as and when needed.

The "su" command starts a new subshell as root. typing exit in a root shell you got with su will return you to normal user. This does NOT affect the rest of your session. You are still logged in as user, everything you do will be as user.

The key in the corner is a bit confusing I agree. Basically certain apps like config programs need root access to work, so redhat has it setup so that when you run it, you'll be prompted for the root password and those apps can do what they need (ie they run as root). The key sticks around for a few minutes - while the key is present you don't need to reauthenticate.

Eventually it will disappear and next time, you'll need to enter the root password again. This is so that if you wonder off nobody else can sit down and root your box (the timeout is 5 mins iirc). Or you can give up the authentication by right clicking on the key.