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Protect directory from an overzealous rm -rf *

Terminal - Protect directory from an overzealous rm -rf *
sudo chattr -R +i dirname
2011-05-17 05:05:49
User: mamue
Functions: chattr sudo
6
Up
Down
Protect directory from an overzealous rm -rf *

-R Recursively change attributes of directories and their contents.

+i to set the immutable bit to prevent even root from erasing or changing the contents of a file.

Add to favourites | Report as malicious

Alternatives

There are 2 alternatives - vote for the best!

Terminal - Alternatives
cd <directory>; touch ./-i
2011-05-12 11:01:58
User: ljmhk
Functions: cd touch
Tags: touch
15
Up
Down
Protect directory from an overzealous rm -rf *

Forces the -i flag on the rm command when using a wildcard delete.

Show sample output | Comments (11) | Add to favourites | Report as malicious
sudo chattr +i <file>
2010-11-03 02:47:49
User: rugina
Functions: chattr sudo
11
Up
Down
Make a file not writable / immutable by root

http://linuxhelp.blogspot.com/2005/11/make-your-files-immutable-which-even.html

Comments (3) | Add to favourites | Report as malicious

Know a better way?

If you can do better, submit your command here.

What others think

chattr is a utility for e2fs; this command may not work with xfs, jfs, or reiserfs.

Using 'chattr +i' has some odd side-effects. File permissions will still show "writable", but any attempt to write to the file will return 'permission denied,' even as root. Users and other sysadmins will get confused. Setting a directory as immutable will also prevent adding new files. I think you meant to say

chattr -R +u dirname # undeletable
Comment by Mozai 104 weeks and 6 days ago

Keep in mind...from the chattr man page:

"The ?c?, ?s?, and ?u? attributes are not honored by the ext2 and ext3 filesystems as implemented in the current mainline Linux kernels."

See here for a patch

http://lwn.net/Articles/211193/

Comment by DaveQB 103 weeks and 6 days ago

Your point of view

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