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Re: broken system after srm -r -d /tmp/.* (user login and several services not working)



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On 07/02/08 04:33, Jonas Meurer wrote:
> Hello,
> 
> I've broken my debian/unstable system by executing as root the command
> # srm -r -d /tmp/.*
> 
> I aborted the command after something between 20 and 40 seconds, but
> since then, my system behaves strange:
> 
> If I try to login as normal user on the console, I get the error
> "Unable to cd to '/home/user'" and the login aborts.
[snip]
> 
> Just to prevent any flamewar about why I (should not) have invoked the
> command in the first time, I know that I did make a mistake, but still
> the reason why I invoked the command was that I intended to wipe all
> data from /tmp to replace the /tmp on my rootfs with a tmpfs. srm
> from the package secure_delete is a tool for secure file deletion,
> just like shred or wipe. According to the manpage, the cmdline option
> -d makes srm "ignore the two dot special files "." and ".."", so I
> thought that the command was safe.
> Few seconds later I had to learn that it was not. The execution took far
> longer than it should for wiping some small files from /tmp, and I
> aborted the execution after something between 20 and 40 seconds.

No flames, but "thanks!" for the informative post.

A reboot cleanly clears out /tmp, so ISTM that the way to accomplish
your ultimate goal is to run sfill soon after boot.

- --
Ron Johnson, Jr.
Jefferson LA  USA

"Kittens give Morbo gas.  In lighter news, the city of New New
York is doomed."
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