permissions

jdb04 · 08-08-2006, 04:01 PM

i'm having an odd problem... I'm running samba version 3.0.22 on my slackware machine. I turned it off yesterday while it was working perfectly fine and I turned it on today and now it won't work. Upon further investigation, I found that smbd doesn't have permission to smb.conf in etc/samba. I went to change that, but found out that I don't have permission to it either! I can't do anything with the file! I'm by no means an advanced user, so please feel free to dumb down your responses =)

if you need any more information, just let me know. thanks.

drkstr · 08-08-2006, 04:05 PM

I'm a little confused when you say you don't have permissions to the file. Do you not have access to the root account? If not, you will probably need to ask the system administrator to update it for you.

If you mean that you can't change the file after logged in (or su'd) as root, then that's another story. Is the /etc/smbd.conf being hosted by another computer though nfs or a samba share? If so, you need to configure the permissions on that computer.

regards,
...drkstr

jdb04 · 08-08-2006, 09:21 PM

i wish there were a more compitent sys. admin, but unfortunately that's me =\ Here's what happens step by step...

I log in as root
#cd /etc/samba
#ls -l
/bin/ls: smb.conf: Permission denied
/bin/ls: private: Permission denied
total 0

if i try to do anything else to either of these files, similar messages about "Permission denied" follow. What troubles me is that I was under the impresssion that, as root, I have access to everything regardless of ownership and permission. Was I mistaken? How did this even happen in the first place? anyway thanks,

-jeremy

drkstr · 08-08-2006, 10:48 PM

Quote:

I have access to everything regardless of ownership and permission. Was I mistaken? How did this even happen in the first place?

Well this is sorta true. You could still deny your self access by changing the permissions incorrectly. If this is the case, then your in luck; it's an easy fix.

Just log in as root and change them back.

Code:

chown root.root /etc/samba/*
chmod 700 /etc/samba/*

This changes the ownership of all the files back to user root, group root. The next command changes the permissions of the file to Owner=rwx (full permissions), group=--- (not accessible), and everybody=--- (not accessible). You can also use 722 for rwx--r--r.

Let me know if this still does not resolve the problem.

regards,
...drkstr

jdb04 · 08-09-2006, 09:07 AM

same thing =\

Code:

chown: cannot access `/etc/samba/smb.conf': Permission denied

same deal with chmod. that was my first instict. when that didn't work, I posted.

this is pretty odd, hehe...

thanks,

-jeremy

piete · 08-09-2006, 09:13 AM

I'd be willing to bet someone's left leg that the problem is not the files inside /etc/samba, but the directory!

What are the permissions on /etc/samba itself?

Code:

administrator@Melchior:~$ ls -l /etc/ | grep samba
drwxr-xr-x   3 root root     4096 2005-04-19 15:44 samba/

If that's correct, then we need to start wondering if there is some more deep-rooted fault. My next step would be use a bootdisk and see what sort of edits i could make using something else; if that still failed, i'd start to suspect hardware faults and probably run a non-destructive disk check.

Let us know how it turns out,
- Piete.

jdb04 · 08-09-2006, 10:35 AM

what piete suggested might be correct. There is indeed a problem with the directory. the permissions on the folder are indeed what you said, drwxr-xr-x root root. however, I can't read or write *anything* to the directory:

Code:

cp new /etc/samba/
cp: cannot create regular file `/etc/samba/new': Input/output error

so... how do i make a bootdisk? and consequently, how do i run a non-destructive disk check? You can direct me to a tutorial somewhere if you don't feel like running me through it here.

thanks for helping me narrow down what the problem is!

-jeremy

piete · 08-09-2006, 10:43 AM

Ooh, ouch, IO errors are not good ...

There are lot of different tools out there, but I reckon the only one you need to check this problem is here:

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/

I make the assumption you know how to a burn a CD, since you've managed to get Slackware installed =)

Pop back to LQ if you need some more pointers!

- Piete

PS: The disk check tools available to you will be based on your hard drive manufacturer. UBCD consolidates all these tools into a bootable CD for ease of use.

jdb04 · 08-09-2006, 01:01 PM

well, i managed to get slack installed because I have a really brilliant friend help me do it! Since he's away, I've been on my own. However these are all things I need to learn eventually, so i guess this is a blessing in disguise! (I'm trying to keep a positive attitude here =) ).

I'll try out that website and let you know how it goes.

Thanks again,

-Jeremy