thanks, this looks like exactly the thing i need. i'll definitely give it a try...You want something like rssh: Description: Restricted shell allowing only scp, sftp, cvs, rsync and/or rdist rssh is a restricted shell to be used as a substitute of the login shell to allow users to perform only scp/sftp/cvs/rsync,rdist operations. . The security implications are high, so the home directories have to be set following the instructions provided.
thanks again, -- Lubos _@_"