Re: password protect a directory?
On Fri, 27 Oct 2000 22:12:27 -0700, Mr. Strockbine wrote:
>is there a way to password protect a directory? [ ... ]
The UNIX security model hasn't traditionally worked like this. The other replies have
some good ideas on how to implement the same things along traditional UNIX lines.
This raises the important point of access control lists (ACL's). On some network operating
systems, like NT or NetWare, access to directories and files can be limited to
a predefined set of users. UNIX/Linux accomplishes the same thing, but in a different
way. For some of us, using ACL's is actually more convenient, though.
ACL's already exist on some commercial UNIXes. The TrustedBSD project is trying to
add ACL's to FreeBSD. More to the point, Linux ACL's are under development. They
have a chance of inclusion in the 2.5 kernel. See this related announcement:
<http://lwn.net/2000/1026/a/acl-0.7.0.php3>
On the other hand, you might be asking about assigning a unique password to one directory.
This sometimes is implemented in the DOS/Windows world as a TSR or a special program
that intercepts any call to open the directory, and only allowing access upon entering of the
password. To say the least, that is a very weak security model.
I'd advise you to use the UNIX security permissions, as other posters have suggested, the
experimental Linux ACL's, encryption, or removable media.
good luck,
Andrew Hagen
ahagen@clam.rutgers.edu
<http://clam.rutgers.edu/~ahagen/>
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