Hi,

How do I change directory permissions on a file system using mount.

The problem is the /etc/ftab file does not show the mount point of this directory namely /usr/local/sbin or /usr for that matter. This directory is read only and I want it to change it to rw.

I know a lot of you would have done this often.

Thanks,
/ still newbie_jubie

As I understand you have a separate partition for your /usr, and I believe you made it mount automatically on boot, right? Hence, I see nothing better then chmod the whole mount point ( chmod -R 777 /usr), and he-he it is a security risk, you can also chown the whole mount point, another security risk, you can add yourself into root group, or you can look at sudo and /etc/sudoers for a solution.

Hi neo7777,

I guess I didnt make myself clear. I am a regular unix user and the magical wand of the "administrator" has been thrust upon me. I did not boot the system myself but using it to install some software.

I am installing a software but I get a permission denied warning on /usr/local/sbin. The mount command gives the following output

/dev/hda1 on / type ext2 (rw)
none on /proc type proc (rw)
/dev/hda5 on /u1 type ext2 (rw)
none on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,gid=5,mode=620)
chpc15pid479) on /net type nfs (intr,rw,port=1023,timeo=8,retrans=110,indirect
,map=/etc/amd.net,dev=00000003)
milou:/u1/local on /.automount/milou/root/u1/local type nfs (nosuid,nodev,dev=00
00000a)
lutece:/home on /.automount/lutece/root/home type nfs (nosuid,nodev,dev=00000004
)
lutece:/usr1 on /.automount/lutece/root/usr1 type nfs (nosuid,nodev,dev=00000005
)
lutece:/usr2 on /.automount/lutece/root/usr2 type nfs (nosuid,nodev,dev=00000006
)
lutece:/usr3 on /.automount/lutece/root/usr3 type nfs (nosuid,nodev,dev=00000007
)
lutece:/usr4 on /.automount/lutece/root/usr4 type nfs (nosuid,nodev,dev=00000008
)
lutece:/usr5 on /.automount/lutece/root/usr5 type nfs (nosuid,nodev,dev=00000009
)

I dont see the mount point for /usr but since I am getting the permission denied warning, I assume it does not have rw access. And I do have root permissions. I guess chmod is overridden by the mount permissions.

Any ideas,

/ newbie_jubie

As I can see the /usr is a directory on your /, which is mounted according to your fstab on / (/dev/hda1), so the solution would be as root
chmod -R 755 /usr

it will add r, w and x permissions to all files and dirs under /usr for root account

Usually you need to install stuff as root. Since you said you are a "regular" user, that is probably the reason you get the permission errors. Try the install logged in as root.

thanks for the replies guys.

You are right neo. it is under / directory. The directory in question was /usr/local/sbin. mount showed / having the rw permissions. but /usr/local was mounted on a different file system and didnt have the permissions. One more thing, a directory may have rw permissions but if its not mounted with the rw permissions then we cant modify or create in this directory.

malicious, the mount permissions can override the root privileges. I did have root privileges.