FYI, I'm on a G4 Quicksilver that's been upgraded and is running Leopard. I'm the only user on this system and, obviously, have administrator privledges.
Permission problems started after I tried to network my Mac and PC. Long story short: I've been locked out of all of my drives, taught myself basic Unix by looking at forums like this and other sites (woo hoo!), bought/downloaded/used TinkerTool System 2, FileXaminer, Terminal and Disk Utility, have gotten back into drives, but still have bizarre reoccuring permission issues.
It's like voodoo ... See screen shots for examples (note what my access says v. what user details say underneath; also note "custom" issue).
Basically, Inspector shows different things after opening inspector, unlocking, clicking on a user (but not changing), then locking again. And my programs are still having issues installing, opening, saving preferences, etc., at times. Sometimes Time Machine isn't working ... Etc. I just know I'm going to blink and be locked out of my drives again (for the 5th time)!
Here's some terminal info ... Someone give me props for learing this! :-) Note that any one of these disks/folders/files at any given time -- apparently depending on what mood the computer's in??! -- could show screwy permissions in Inspector, but the attributes shown in terminal aren't changing. Anything look weird here? Thanks in advance for your help!!!
Code:
Jens-Computer-4:Applications alaskajen$ ls -alO /Volumes total 44
drwxrwxrwt@ 9 root admin hidden 306 Oct 30 12:45 .
drwxrwxr-t@ 34 root admin - 1224 Oct 29 23:50 ..
drwsrwsr-x 16 root admin - 612 Oct 28 20:28 Backup
drwxrwxr-t@ 34 root admin - 1224 Oct 29 23:50 Emergency
Disk Caviar
lrwxr-xr-x 1 root admin - 1 Oct 29 23:23 Mac OS
Caviar -> /
drwxrwxr-x@ 24 root admin - 884 Oct 20 09:38 Multimedia
drwx------ 1 alaskajen staff - 16384 Oct 28 19:55 My Documents
drwsrwsr-x@ 13 root admin - 510 Oct 30 00:34 Personal
Caviar
drwx------ 1 alaskajen staff - 2048 Jul 7 2009 alaskajen
Jens-Computer-4:Applications alaskajen$
Jens-Computer-4:Mac OS Caviar alaskajen$ ls -al total 41725
drwxrwxr-t@ 34 root admin 1224 Oct 29 23:50 .
drwxrwxr-t@ 34 root admin 1224 Oct 29 23:50 ..
-rw-rw-r--@ 1 alaskajen admin 6148 Oct 29 19:17 .DS_Store
drwx------ 3 root admin 102 Oct 28 20:02 .Spotlight-V100
drwxrwxrwt@ 3 alaskajen admin 102 Oct 29 21:18 .TemporaryItems
d-wx-wx-wt 2 root staff 68 Oct 29 22:48 .Trashes
-rw-r--r--@ 1 alaskajen admin 68113 Oct 29 21:29 .VolumeIcon.icns
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 0 Oct 28
19:46 .com.apple.timemachine.supported
drwx------ 23 root admin 782 Oct 30 12:39 .fseventsd
-rw------- 1 root wheel 65536 Oct 28 20:02 .hotfiles.btree
drwxr-xr-x@ 2 root wheel 68 Sep 24 2007 .vol
drwxrwxr-x 41 root admin 1394 Oct 30 11:52 Applications
-rw-r--r--@ 1 root admin 2048 Oct 29 23:50 Desktop DB
-rw-r--r--@ 1 root admin 3842 Oct 29 23:50 Desktop DF
drwxrwxr-x 51 root admin 1734 Oct 29 19:38 Library
drwxr-xr-x@ 2 root wheel 68 Apr 23 2008 Network
drwxr-xr-x 4 root wheel 136 Oct 29 11:19 System
drwxr-xr-x 5 root admin 170 Oct 29 19:17 Users
drwxrwxrwt@ 9 root admin 306 Oct 30 12:45 Volumes
drwxr-xr-x@ 40 root wheel 1360 Oct 29 11:02 bin
drwxrwxr-t@ 2 root admin 68 Apr 23 2008 cores
dr-xr-xr-x 2 root wheel 512 Oct 29 23:23 dev
lrwxr-xr-x@ 1 root admin 11 Oct 28 19:48 etc -> private/
etc
dr-xr-xr-x 2 root wheel 1 Oct 29 23:23 home
-rw-r--r--@ 1 root wheel 10367028 Jul 15 2009 mach_kernel
-rw-r--r--@ 1 root wheel 10822172 Jul 15 2009
mach_kernel.ctfsys
dr-xr-xr-x 2 root wheel 1 Oct 29 23:23 net
drwxr-xr-x@ 6 root wheel 204 Oct 28 19:54 private
drwxr-xr-x@ 66 root wheel 2244 Oct 29 11:42 sbin
lrwxr-xr-x@ 1 root admin 11 Oct 28 19:48 tmp -> private/
tmp
drwxr-xr-x@ 10 root wheel 340 Oct 29 23:28 usr
lrwxr-xr-x@ 1 root admin 11 Oct 28 19:48 var -> private/
var
Jens-Computer-4:Mac OS Caviar alaskajen$
Jens-Computer-4:Applications alaskajen$ ls -al total 32
drwxrwxr-x 41 root admin 1394 Oct 30 11:52 .
drwxrwxr-t@ 34 root admin 1224 Oct 29 23:50 ..
-rw-rw-r--@ 1 alaskajen admin 12292 Oct 30 12:26 .DS_Store
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 0 Sep 23 2007 .localized
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:17 Address Book.app
drwxrwxr-x 6 root admin 204 Oct 29 11:17 AppleScript
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:17 Automator.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:17 Calculator.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:17 Chess.app
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 alaskajen admin 102 Jun 2 09:52 Cocktail.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:17 DVD Player.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:17 Dashboard.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:44 Dictionary.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:17 Expose.app
drwxr-xr-x 3 alaskajen admin 102 May 4 2008 FileXaminer.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Jun 16 2008 Font Book.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:17 Front Row.app
drwxr-xr-x 3 alaskajen staff 102 Oct 29 23:29 GrowlSafari.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:17 Image Capture.app
drwxr-xr-x@ 33 alaskajen admin 1122 Oct 30 12:23 Installers
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:17 Mail.app
drwxrwxrwx@ 4 alaskajen staff 136 Oct 29 23:50 Passwords Plus.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:17 Photo Booth.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:17 Preview.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:17 QuickTime Player.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:44 Safari.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:17 Spaces.app
drwxrwxr-x 8 root admin 272 Oct 29 19:40 Spring Cleaning
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Sep 24 2007 Stickies.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root wheel 102 Oct 29 11:17 System
Preferences.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Sep 24 2007 TextEdit.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:17 Time Machine.app
drwxrwxr-x 27 root admin 918 Oct 29 11:53 Utilities
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:17 iCal.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:44 iChat.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Jan 8 2009 iDVD.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 May 23 2007 iMovie (previous
version).localized
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Jan 12 2009 iMovie.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Dec 22 2008 iPhoto.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:17 iSync.app
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:17 iTunes.app
Jens-Computer-4:Users alaskajen$ ls -al
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 5 root admin 170 Oct 29 19:17 .
drwxrwxr-t@ 34 root admin 1224 Oct 29 23:50 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 0 Sep 23 2007 .localized
drwxrwxrwt+ 4 root wheel 136 Oct 29 18:36 Shared
drwxr-xr-x 16 alaskajen wheel 544 Oct 29 16:00 alaskajen
Jens-Computer-4:~ alaskajen$ ls -al
total 40
drwxr-xr-x 16 alaskajen wheel 544 Oct 29 16:00 .
drwxr-xr-x 5 root admin 170 Oct 29 19:17 ..
-rw------- 1 alaskajen wheel 3 Oct 28 20:08 .CFUserTextEncoding
-rwx------@ 1 alaskajen staff 6148 Oct 30 12:27 .DS_Store
drwx------ 28 alaskajen staff 952 Oct 30 12:25 .Trash
-rwx------ 1 alaskajen staff 4460 Oct 30 13:06 .bash_history
drwx------ 3 alaskajen staff 102 Oct 28 20:10 .cups
drwx------+ 19 alaskajen wheel 646 Oct 30 12:25 Desktop
drwx------+ 6 alaskajen wheel 204 Oct 29 23:52 Documents
drwx------+ 11 alaskajen wheel 374 Oct 30 00:17 Downloads
drwx------+ 39 alaskajen wheel 1326 Oct 30 00:12 Library
drwx------+ 3 alaskajen wheel 102 Oct 28 20:08 Movies
drwx------+ 8 alaskajen wheel 272 Oct 29 18:53 Music
drwx------+ 7 alaskajen wheel 238 Oct 29 22:54 Pictures
drwxr-xr-x+ 4 alaskajen wheel 136 Oct 28 20:08 Public
drwxr-xr-x+ 5 alaskajen wheel 170 Oct 28 20:08 Sites
Jens-Computer-4:Mac OS Caviar alaskajen
$ cd /System Jens-Computer-4:System alaskajen$ ls -al total 0
drwxr-xr-x 4 root wheel 136 Oct 29 11:19 .
drwxrwxr-t@ 34 root admin 1224 Oct 29 23:50 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 0 Sep 23 2007 .localized
drwxr-xr-x 63 root wheel 2142 Oct 29 11:44
Library Jens-Computer-4:System
alaskajen$ cd /Library Jens-Computer-4:Library
alaskajen$ ls -al total 0 drwxrwxr-x 51 root admin 1734 Oct 29 19:38 .
drwxrwxr-t@ 34 root admin 1224 Oct 29 23:50 ..
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 0 Sep 23 2007 .localized
drwxrwxr-x 2 root admin 68 Apr 20 2008 Address Book Plug-Ins
drwxrwxr-x 14 root admin 476 Oct 30 11:49 Application Support
drwxrwxr-x 8 root admin 272 Oct 28 19:47 Audio
drwxrwxrwt 11 root admin 374 Oct 30 12:50 Caches
drwxrwxr-x 4 root admin 136 Oct 28 19:52 ColorSync
drwxrwxr-x 2 root admin 68 Oct 29 11:43 Components
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Sep 24 2007 Compositions
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 19:38 Contextual Menu Items
drwxrwxr-x 30 root admin 1020 May 15 2008 Desktop Pictures
drwxrwxr-x 8 root admin 272 Oct 28 20:00 Dictionaries
drwxrwxr-x 9 root admin 306 Oct 28 19:59 Documentation
drwxr-xr-x 2 root wheel 68 Jun 9 2008 Filesystems
drwxrwxr-x 76 root admin 2584 Oct 28 19:51 Fonts
drwxrwxr-x 2 root admin 68 Apr 29 2008 Frameworks
drwxrwxr-x 4 root admin 136 Oct 28 19:47 Graphics
drwxrwxr-x 7 root admin 238 Oct 28 19:51 Image Capture
drwxrwxr-x 2 root admin 68 Sep 24 2007 Input Methods
drwxrwxr-x 13 root admin 442 Oct 30 11:49 Internet Plug-Ins
drwxrwxr-x 4 root admin 136 Oct 29 11:49 Java
drwxrwxr-x 2 root admin 68 Dec 20 2007 Keyboard Layouts
drwxr-xr-x 5 root admin 170 Oct 28 20:05 Keychains
drwxr-xr-x 3 root wheel 102 Oct 29 19:38 LaunchAgents
drwxr-xr-x 4 root wheel 136 Oct 29 19:39 LaunchDaemons
drwxrwxr-x 7 root admin 238 Oct 29 19:40 Logs
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Jul 11 2008 Mail
drwxrwxr-x 47 root admin 1598 Oct 28 19:52 Modem Scripts
drwxrwxr-x 6 root admin 204 May 21 2008 PDF Services
drwxrwxr-x 5 root admin 170 Oct 29 11:01 Perl
drwxr-xr-x 3 root wheel 102 Oct 29 23:28 PreferencePanes
drwxrwxr-x 68 root admin 2312 Oct 30 00:04 Preferences
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 23:25 Printers
drwxr-xr-x 3 root wheel 102 Oct 30 11:49 PrivilegedHelperTools
drwxrwxr-x 4 root admin 136 Oct 28 19:54 Python
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 28 19:52 QuickLook
drwxrwxr-x 5 root admin 170 Oct 30 11:51 QuickTime
drwxrwxr-x 24 root admin 816 Oct 30 11:53 Receipts
drwxrwxr-x 4 root admin 136 Oct 28 19:52 Ruby
drwxrwxr-x 2 root admin 68 Apr 2 2008 Screen Savers
drwxrwxr-x 19 root admin 646 Oct 28 19:52 Scripts
drwxr-xr-x 3 root wheel 102 Jun 10 2008 Security
drwxr-xr-x 4 root admin 136 Oct 29 19:38 Smith Micro
drwxrwxr-x 5 root admin 170 Oct 29 11:03 Spotlight
drwxr-xr-x 2 root wheel 68 Apr 23 2008 StartupItems
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:44 Updates
drwxrwxr-x 7 root admin 238 Jul 10 2008 User Pictures
drwxrwxr-x 5 root admin 170 Oct 28 19:52 WebServer
drwxr-xr-x 22 root wheel 748 Oct 28 19:55 Widgets
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Sep 24 2007 iTunes
Jens-Computer-4:Mac OS Caviar alaskajen
$ cd /Library Jens-Computer-4:Library alaskajen
$ ls -al total 0 drwxrwxr-x 51 root admin 1734 Oct 29 19:38 .
drwxrwxr-t@ 34 root admin 1224 Oct 29 23:50 ..
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 0 Sep 23 2007 .localized
drwxrwxr-x 2 root admin 68 Apr 20 2008 Address Book Plug-Ins
drwxrwxr-x 14 root admin 476 Oct 30 11:49 Application Support
drwxrwxr-x 8 root admin 272 Oct 28 19:47 Audio
drwxrwxrwt 11 root admin 374 Oct 30 12:50 Caches
drwxrwxr-x 4 root admin 136 Oct 28 19:52 ColorSync
drwxrwxr-x 2 root admin 68 Oct 29 11:43 Components
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Sep 24 2007 Compositions
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 19:38 Contextual Menu Items
drwxrwxr-x 30 root admin 1020 May 15 2008 Desktop Pictures
drwxrwxr-x 8 root admin 272 Oct 28 20:00 Dictionaries
drwxrwxr-x 9 root admin 306 Oct 28 19:59 Documentation
drwxr-xr-x 2 root wheel 68 Jun 9 2008 Filesystems
drwxrwxr-x 76 root admin 2584 Oct 28 19:51 Fonts
drwxrwxr-x 2 root admin 68 Apr 29 2008 Frameworks
drwxrwxr-x 4 root admin 136 Oct 28 19:47 Graphics
drwxrwxr-x 7 root admin 238 Oct 28 19:51 Image Capture
drwxrwxr-x 2 root admin 68 Sep 24 2007 Input Methods
drwxrwxr-x 13 root admin 442 Oct 30 11:49 Internet Plug-Ins
drwxrwxr-x 4 root admin 136 Oct 29 11:49 Java
drwxrwxr-x 2 root admin 68 Dec 20 2007 Keyboard Layouts
drwxr-xr-x 5 root admin 170 Oct 28 20:05 Keychains
drwxr-xr-x 3 root wheel 102 Oct 29 19:38 LaunchAgents
drwxr-xr-x 4 root wheel 136 Oct 29 19:39 LaunchDaemons
drwxrwxr-x 7 root admin 238 Oct 29 19:40 Logs
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Jul 11 2008 Mail
drwxrwxr-x 47 root admin 1598 Oct 28 19:52 Modem Scripts
drwxrwxr-x 6 root admin 204 May 21 2008 PDF Services
drwxrwxr-x 5 root admin 170 Oct 29 11:01 Perl
drwxr-xr-x 3 root wheel 102 Oct 29 23:28 PreferencePanes
drwxrwxr-x 68 root admin 2312 Oct 30 00:04 Preferences
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 23:25 Printers
drwxr-xr-x 3 root wheel 102 Oct 30 11:49 PrivilegedHelperTools
drwxrwxr-x 4 root admin 136 Oct 28 19:54 Python
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 28 19:52 QuickLook
drwxrwxr-x 5 root admin 170 Oct 30 11:51 QuickTime
drwxrwxr-x 24 root admin 816 Oct 30 11:53 Receipts
drwxrwxr-x 4 root admin 136 Oct 28 19:52 Ruby
drwxrwxr-x 2 root admin 68 Apr 2 2008 Screen Savers
drwxrwxr-x 19 root admin 646 Oct 28 19:52 Scripts
drwxr-xr-x 3 root wheel 102 Jun 10 2008 Security
drwxr-xr-x 4 root admin 136 Oct 29 19:38 Smith Micro
drwxrwxr-x 5 root admin 170 Oct 29 11:03 Spotlight
drwxr-xr-x 2 root wheel 68 Apr 23 2008 StartupItems
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Oct 29 11:44 Updates
drwxrwxr-x 7 root admin 238 Jul 10 2008 User Pictures
drwxrwxr-x 5 root admin 170 Oct 28 19:52 WebServer
drwxr-xr-x 22 root wheel 748 Oct 28 19:55 Widgets
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 Sep 24 2007 iTunes
Moderator's Comments:
Please use [CODE][/CODE] tags instead of font formatting for console listings
Last edited by jim mcnamara; 10-30-2010 at 05:49 PM..
Reason: further cleanup
directory with @ <- extended information, this is not impossible just unusual
directories.files with + in the permissions mask have ACL's set. These can override the permissions mask, you know the rwxrwxrwx part. You may need to investigate your ACL's. It is possible to have ACL's completely 'undo' permissions for some users.
I do not like:
the directory called Caches has the sticky bit set - meaning any file written there will be owned by whoever wrote it. But not everybody can write to it. Makes no sense -- translation == 'voodoo' in your coined terms. In my terms the filesystem is probably corrupted.
Have you run fsck against your file systems? You mentioned what I perceive as non-standard tools.
I personally would would start with the tool that is designed to fix filesystems. fsck. Run it as root on dismounted filesystems.
This User Gave Thanks to jim mcnamara For This Post:
This is really helpful, Jim, thank you. I'll look into fsck. I have no idea how to use that ...
ACLs have definitely been a problem. I'm trying to remove in spots. Where should I NOT remove them? Again, I'm the only user of this system ...
If the filesystem is corrupted, will fsck fix or do I need to do another clean install? If the last clean install didn't fix, I'm not sure another one will do better ...
What is extended info used for? And, how would I remove?
I know how to undo the sticky bit on stuff, so I'll take a look at that caches folder.
You have validated the contents of Netinfo, right? Or are you using LDAP or whatever else for user authentication? Do this BEFORE fsck.
Filesystems are made of several things. Metadata (data about files) , data in the file, and some part or all of a device like a disk. The metadata maps the data onto the physical device. Metadata also involves permissions, ACLs, inodes and other stuff like blocksizes.
When a filesystem goes South it usually means the metadata got messed up, or there was a physical problem with the disk. What I am seeing is 'interesting' metadata.
I am assuming you ran low-level checks on disk physical integrity, right?
You appear to have metadata issues, a lot of them. fsck will try to fix it. You will probably see complaints about some directories you never heard of. If you have files in those wierd directories, you have to see if either fsck can move them or you may need to try to recover those files.
Do not go messing about with xattr to fix the @ metadata until after fsck pronounces things okay. @=extended attributes, kind of cutsie information about files. After fsck have a go with xattr. I think there is no help for xattr, so try xattr -h or xattr -? to get some idea how to use it.
I'm guessing the ACL's are pure nonsense. Try: The ACL Permissions pane
to play around with the ACL pane. If you see numbers instead of text for user ids or groups in an ACL it has to be a garbage ACL. Or something from a previous app that no longer exists - meaning it is: dangerous, a problem, or pointless. I think the ACL pane complains on certain problems. Do this post-fsck.
Hi, I am creating a ksh script to search for a string of text inside files within a directory tree. Some of these file are going to be read/execute only. I know to use chmod to change the permissions of the file, but I want to preserve the original permissions after writing to the file. How can I... (3 Replies)
Hi,
I have an ascii file with recurring lines (the file is 36mb so lots of lines) which look like this:
-2.5 -66.324-68.138 935.2 1.953 -0.664 272.617 73.684 -2.428 269.998 0.000
Every 14 lines there is a blank line.
I would like to, for each non-blank line,... (2 Replies)
How can i awk/sed to print the last line of an recurring pattern on the 3rd field?
Input lines:
123456.1 12 1357911 11111.1 01
123456.2 12 1357911 11111.2 02
123456.3 12 1357911 11111.3 03
123456.4 12 1357911 11111.4 04
123456.5 12 1357911 11111.5 05
246810.1 12 1357911 22222.1 01... (4 Replies)
I have many text file reports generated by a Information Assurance tool that I need to get into a .CSV format or Excel tab delimited format. I want to use sed or awk to grab all the information in the sample text file below and create column headings:Risk ID, Risk Level, Category, Description, How... (5 Replies)
Hi,
I am a Unix Admin. I have to give the permissions to a user for creating new file in a directory in HP-Ux 11.11 system since he cannot able to create a new file in the directory.
Thanks in advance.
Mike (3 Replies)
Hi everyone, I'm looking for some information concerning Unix permissions. I am new to Unix and am doing research for a graduate class. Given the permissions below, can anyone give me five unique exploits that would be available to a hacker/cracker given this configuaration?
-rw-rw-rw- 1... (1 Reply)
10-30-2010
