Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 16:54:20 -0600 From: David Syphers <dsyphers@uchicago.edu> To: Chris Fedde <chris@fedde.littleton.co.us> Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: can't mount / properly, fstab woes Message-ID: <200201132254.g0DMsGt02191@midway.uchicago.edu> In-Reply-To: <200201130140.g0D1eu801800@fedde.littleton.co.us> References: <200201130140.g0D1eu801800@fedde.littleton.co.us>
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On Saturday 12 January 2002 07:40 pm, Chris Fedde wrote: > On Sat, 12 Jan 2002 19:00:02 -0600 David Syphers wrote: > +------------------ > > | booted to single-user mode, and managed to run fsck on /, but only by > | specifying the device name, since /etc/fstab is apparently FUBAR. But > | it won't let me mount / read-write, so I can't change fstab. It keeps > | complaining 'inappropriate file type or format', and I don't understand > | what that means. It doesn't make it easier that I have to direct > | someone how do this over the phone, since I can't ssh into the box > | Help!! > > +------------------ > > You need to update the mount to read-write. do that by using the > -u option. I can't. That's what I meant when I said that "it won't let me mount / read-write." I tried # mount -u -w / # mount -u -w /dev/ad0s1a # mount -u -w -f /dev/ad0s1a and none of them work. They all give the error "fstab /etc/fstab :3: inappropriate file type or format". Why is it looking at fstab anyway, if I've specified the device name? And how did I kill fstab by changing 'rw' to 'r' for / ? > Another approach is to ship out a new drive properly > installed so that the remote hands only have to switch drives and > free you from the drudgery of using their eyes and hands. An option only if I had some sort of budget - I mean, my web/mail server is a 486 :) > +------------------ > > | And for the record, I think making / read-only is something that should > | _never_ be done. The system does _not_ work properly in this mode, and > | everything gives me errors. To every FreeBSD security how-to out there > | - stop recommending this! If that kind of security is desired, then > | running the whole computer from a CDROM is probably the best idea. > > +------------------ > > Read only / disk is safe if you are careful and understand what you > are doing. Remember that security is inversely proportional to > convenience. What did I do that was wrong, then? All I changed was / to read-only. This, and this alone, caused my web server to stop functioning. I could achieve the same level of convenience and even better security by pulling out the power plug. -David To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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