Re: anyone tried being *very* explicit with respect to file permissions?

[Patrick M McNeal]

> This seems like a slow way to force all files to be the correct
> ownership and permissions. Is there another way given that the
> files in /etc have different owners and groups?

It sounds like what you are actually looking for is a tripwire.   
Tripwire, the product, can verify such a policy, but it has no way of  
making changes if something is incorrect.  On the flip side of the  
problem, tools like cfengine and isconf can make the changes, but have  
no easy way to tripwire the entire filesystem.

Tools like radmind and synctree were designed to address both issues.   
At their core, they are a tripwire, allowing you to monitor every  
filesystem object.  They also go a step further and allow you to  
correct the problem without having to write a set of script,  
configuration files or stanaz to get the work done.

You can read more about the integration of tripwire and managament here:

http://rsug.itd.umich.edu/software/radmind/files/LISA-radmind.pdf

--Patrick
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Patrick M McNeal                                GnuPG Public Key:
mcneal@umich.edu                                
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