Deleting "undeletable" files

[AndyBo]

There was a post recently where someone was unable to alter their <FONT FACE=monospace>inetd.conf</font> file.&nbsp;&nbsp;I've not been able to find the original post, so I'm posting this tip hoping that it's seen by the person who had the problem.<br><br>Anyway, just to prove that as you get older you don't lose it, but it does get harder to find, I had a flash of inspiration (or was it perspiration?&nbsp;&nbsp;probably both earlier and remembered the <FONT FACE=monospace>chattr</font> command.<br><br><FONT FACE=monospace>chattr</font> lets you set a filesystem level flag to mark a file as &quot;immutable&quot;.&nbsp;&nbsp;ie, regardless of file permissions, you cannot alter the file.&nbsp;&nbsp;To set the immutable flag:<br><FONT FACE=monospace><br>chattr +i /etc/inetd.conf<br></font><br>And to remove it:<br><FONT FACE=monospace><br>chattr -i /etc/inetd.conf<br></font><br>I can't remember if <FONT FACE=monospace>chattr</font> is part of the base system, or if it's part of a secondary package (possibly exttools?), but as soon as I get a chance to check I'll post back here.<br><br>Hope this helps someone

 

[Octalman]

For Linux, chattr is part of the E2fsprogs package.&nbsp;&nbsp;According to the man page, as of January, 1999 (E2fsprogs version 1.14), ext2 fs 0.5a does not support the c and u attributes and kernel version 2.0 does not support the A attribute, but they will be added. <p>Octalman<br><a href=mailto: > </a><br><a href= > </a><br>

 

[AndyBo]

Thanks for the info Octal &nbsp;&nbsp;I knew there was an &quot;e&quot; and a &quot;2&quot; in that package name somewhere ;^)

 

[linuxtricks]

<br><font color=red><b>AndyBo:</font></b><br><br>I was the one who posted the original thread on how I was unable to alter the inetd.conf file.<br><br>I just wanted to say...&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;I got your message... and&nbsp;&nbsp;Thank you!!!<br><br>That was exactly what I used to set inetd.conf immutable... but I couldn't remember it it for my life.<br><br><b>Thanks again buddy!</b><br> <p> <br><a href=mailto: > </a><br><a href= > </a><br><i>try not!</i><br>
<i>do... or do not. there is no try!</i>