[OS X TeX] OT: authorizations in Leopard
Bruno Voisin
bvoisin at mac.com
Fri Nov 9 18:53:26 CET 2007
To continue with the flow of reports on the switch to Leopard, here's
a quick word about authorization problems I'm experiencing after
switching:
- Usually I put software documentation (ReadMe files, user guides,
etc.) in /Library/Documentation/. Most of the stuff I had put there in
Tiger had me (the admin user bvoisin) as owner, and authorizations
rwxr-xr-x. After performing an Archive & Install of Leopard, for some
folders and files (not all, with no apparent logic), the ownership has
been transfered to root implying that I cannot use the Finder to
perform most modifications (name change, addition of files) and that I
need to use sudo in Terminal instead.
Specifically: my former Tiger setup, still visible in the Previous
Systems area, was
$ cd /Previous\ Systems.localized/2007-10-26_1342/Library/Documentation
$ ls -l
total 560
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 286437 12 sep 2006 Acknowledgements.rtf
drwxr-xr-x 3 bvoisin admin 102 26 oct 23:33 Adobe Acrobat
drwxr-xr-x 2 bvoisin admin 68 26 oct 23:33 Adobe Illustrator
drwxr-xr-x 2 bvoisin admin 68 26 oct 23:33 AirPort
drwxrwxr-x 10 root admin 340 9 aoû 15:40 Applications
drwxr-xr-x 3 bvoisin admin 102 26 jui 02:00 Backup
drwxr-xr-x 4 bvoisin admin 136 26 oct 23:33 CHUD
drwxr-xr-x 16 bvoisin admin 544 26 oct 23:33 Camino
drwxr-xr-x 3 bvoisin admin 102 26 oct 23:33 ClamXav
drwxrwxr-x 6 root admin 204 28 avr 2007 Commands
drwxr-xr-x 4 bvoisin admin 136 26 oct 23:33 Equation Service
drwxr-xr-x 3 bvoisin admin 102 27 jui 01:12 Fetch
drwxrwxr-x 10 root admin 340 29 jui 22:00 Help
drwxr-xr-x 2 bvoisin admin 68 26 oct 23:33 KaleidaGraph
drwxr-xr-x 3 bvoisin admin 102 28 jui 17:25 LaTeX Equation Editor
drwxr-xr-x 7 bvoisin admin 238 26 oct 23:33 LaTeXiT
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 2 avr 2007 Libraries
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 28 avr 2007 License.app
drwxr-xr-x 2 bvoisin admin 68 26 oct 23:33 MPlayer
drwxr-xr-x 6 bvoisin admin 204 26 oct 23:33 MacBook
drwxr-xr-x 5 bvoisin admin 170 26 oct 23:33 MacTeX
drwxr-xr-x 2 bvoisin admin 68 26 oct 23:33 ManOpen
drwxr-xr-x 2 bvoisin admin 68 26 oct 23:33 NeoOffice
drwxr-xr-x 2 bvoisin admin 68 26 oct 23:33 Orange
drwxr-xr-x 3 bvoisin admin 102 26 oct 23:33 Perian
drwxrwxr-x 4 root admin 136 7 déc 2006 Services
drwxr-xr-x 2 bvoisin admin 68 26 oct 23:33 StuffIt
drwxr-xr-x 6 bvoisin admin 204 26 oct 23:33 Textures
drwxrwxr-x@ 6 root admin 204 26 oct 23:34 User Guides And
Information.localized
drwxr-xr-x 3 bvoisin admin 102 26 oct 23:34 VLC
drwxr-xr-x 4 bvoisin admin 136 26 oct 23:34 XMeeting
drwxr-xr-x 7 bvoisin admin 238 28 jui 17:13 XeTeX
drwxr-xr-x 3 bvoisin admin 102 26 oct 23:34 XiphQT
drwxr-xr-x 3 bvoisin admin 102 28 jui 17:02 cocoAspell
drwxr-xr-x 4 bvoisin admin 136 26 jui 23:41 hp
drwxr-xr-x 2 bvoisin admin 68 26 oct 23:33 i-Installer
drwxr-xr-x 3 bvoisin admin 102 9 aoû 15:48 iLife '08
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 18 sep 01:56 iPod
drwxr-xr-x 7 bvoisin admin 238 26 oct 23:33 iWork '08
In Leopard, after Archive & Install, it has become:
$ cd /Library/Documentation
$ ls -l
total 944
-rw-rw-r-- 1 root admin 483327 23 sep 23:37 Acknowledgements.rtf
drwxr-xr-x 5 bvoisin admin 170 26 oct 23:33 Adobe Acrobat
drwxr-xr-x 4 bvoisin admin 136 26 oct 23:33 Adobe Illustrator
drwxr-xr-x 4 bvoisin admin 136 26 oct 23:33 AirPort
drwxrwxr-x 9 root admin 306 28 oct 23:02 Applications
drwxr-xr-x 3 root admin 102 26 oct 23:33 Backup
drwxr-xr-x 18 bvoisin admin 612 29 oct 16:41 Camino
drwxr-xr-x 6 bvoisin admin 204 28 oct 23:01 ClamXav
drwxrwxr-x 4 root admin 136 26 oct 22:51 Commands
drwxr-xr-x 5 bvoisin admin 170 26 oct 23:33 Equation Service
drwxr-xr-x 3 root admin 102 26 oct 23:33 Fetch
drwxrwxr-x 9 root admin 306 6 nov 09:09 Help
drwxr-xr-x 10 bvoisin admin 340 26 oct 23:33 KaleidaGraph
drwxr-xr-x 3 root admin 102 26 oct 23:33 LaTeX Equation Editor
drwxr-xr-x 9 root admin 306 26 oct 23:33 LaTeXiT
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 24 sep 03:47 License.app
drwxr-xr-x 8 bvoisin admin 272 26 oct 23:33 MPlayer
drwxr-xr-x 5 bvoisin admin 170 26 oct 23:59 Mac OS X
drwxr-xr-x 11 root admin 374 26 oct 23:33 MacBook
drwxr-xr-x 10 root admin 340 26 oct 23:33 MacTeX
drwxr-xr-x 3 bvoisin admin 102 28 jui 17:33 ManOpen
drwxr-xr-x 3 bvoisin admin 102 27 jui 01:33 NeoOffice
drwxr-xr-x 5 bvoisin admin 170 26 oct 23:33 Orange
drwxr-xr-x 4 bvoisin admin 136 26 oct 23:33 Perian
drwxr-xr-x 6 root admin 204 26 oct 23:33 Textures
drwxr-xr-x 6 root admin 204 26 oct 23:34 User Guides And
Information.localized
drwxr-xr-x 10 bvoisin admin 340 26 oct 23:34 VLC
drwxr-xr-x 4 bvoisin admin 136 24 aoû 2006 Wireless Keyboard &
Mouse
drwxr-xr-x 5 bvoisin admin 170 26 oct 23:34 XMeeting
drwxr-xr-x 6 root admin 204 26 oct 23:34 XeTeX
drwxr-xr-x 9 bvoisin admin 306 26 oct 23:34 XiphQT
drwxr-xr-x 3 root admin 102 26 oct 23:33 cocoAspell
drwxr-xr-x 3 root admin 102 26 oct 23:33 hp
drwxr-xr-x 3 bvoisin admin 102 27 jui 02:06 i-Installer
drwxr-xr-x 3 root admin 102 26 oct 23:33 iLife '08
drwxrwxr-x 3 root admin 102 6 nov 09:09 iPod
drwxr-xr-x 7 bvoisin admin 238 26 oct 23:33 iWork '08
That may be a deliberate decision from Apple to enhance security, or a
bug, I have no idea.
- Right now I'm organizing backups of 20 years of computer files
spread on various supports (other Macs, external hard drive, Samba
server, CDs and DVDs). Copying from all these supports to a Leopard
Mac results in odd authorizations, with a "@" appended at the end.
I've no idea what that means. An example:
$ cd ~/Desktop/Archive\ Info/Logiciels/Modernes
theo9mc182:Modernes bvoisin$ ls -l
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 4 bvoisin bvoisin 136 7 nov 19:01 Adobe
drwxr-xr-x 6 bvoisin bvoisin 204 6 nov 13:40 Apple
drwxr-xr-x@ 7 bvoisin bvoisin 238 18 fév 2005 Audion
drwxr-xr-x@ 7 bvoisin bvoisin 238 4 nov 17:13 BBEdit
drwxr-xr-x 4 bvoisin bvoisin 136 7 nov 12:37 Canon
drwxr-xr-x 3 bvoisin bvoisin 102 5 nov 08:47 Canvas
drwxr-xr-x 7 bvoisin bvoisin 238 4 nov 18:19 Claris
drwxr-xr-x 5 bvoisin bvoisin 170 8 nov 08:59 D-Link
drwxr-xr-x@ 17 bvoisin bvoisin 578 2 mar 2004 DirectTeX
drwxr-xr-x@ 9 bvoisin bvoisin 306 4 nov 18:53 Doom
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 bvoisin bvoisin 102 3 mar 2004 Expressionist
drwxrwxrwx@ 3 bvoisin bvoisin 102 30 déc 2002 Fetch
drwxr-xr-x@ 6 bvoisin bvoisin 204 7 nov 11:17 GhostScript
drwxrwxrwx@ 6 bvoisin bvoisin 204 6 nov 16:56 KaleidaGraph
drwxr-xr-x@ 7 bvoisin bvoisin 238 3 mar 2004 MATLAB
drwxrwxrwx@ 7 bvoisin bvoisin 238 6 nov 17:11 MacAmp
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 bvoisin bvoisin 102 30 aoû 2006 MacTheRipper
drwxrwxrwx@ 5 bvoisin bvoisin 170 8 jui 2004 Maelstrom
drwxr-xr-x 4 bvoisin bvoisin 136 21 mar 2007 Maze
drwxr-xr-x 6 bvoisin bvoisin 204 4 nov 19:43 Microsoft
drwxr-xr-x@ 4 bvoisin bvoisin 136 10 fév 2005 Norton Antivirus
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 bvoisin bvoisin 102 10 fév 2005 OmniWeb
drwxrwxrwx@ 5 bvoisin bvoisin 170 6 nov 17:26 OzTeX
drwxr-xr-x@ 5 bvoisin bvoisin 170 7 nov 12:35 Prineo
drwxr-xr-x 3 bvoisin bvoisin 102 5 nov 08:48 SciFinder Scholar
drwxrwxrwx@ 7 bvoisin bvoisin 238 4 nov 19:15 StuffIt
drwxr-xr-x 10 bvoisin bvoisin 340 7 nov 12:53 TeX
drwxr-xr-x@ 4 bvoisin bvoisin 136 6 nov 17:37 TechTool
drwxrwxrwx@ 4 bvoisin bvoisin 136 31 aoû 2006 Tetris
drwxr-xr-x 5 bvoisin bvoisin 170 7 nov 19:04 Textures
drwxrwxrwx@ 7 bvoisin bvoisin 238 6 nov 16:50 Virex
drwxr-xr-x@ 5 bvoisin bvoisin 170 7 nov 12:39 Whamb
drwxr-xr-x 5 bvoisin bvoisin 170 7 nov 19:04 Wolfram
drwxr-xr-x@ 6 bvoisin bvoisin 204 6 nov 17:08 xvi
At some point it seemed that files and folders copied from these
supports couldn't be modified (they had authorizations r-xr-xr-x
IIRC), but now that's gone for some reason.
Finally, motivated by all that I attempted to repair permissions with
Disk Utility. The report ended up with (approximate translation from
the French):
ACL found but not claimed on /Applications
ACL found but not claimed on /Library
Googling a bit revealed that ACL are a more sophisticated way of
defining and managing permissions for Unix systems, that it was
present but not activated on Tiger, and that it is indeed present and
activated on Leopard. I looked at some documentation but could not
understand a word of it.
It seems, however, that a way to solve the problem reported by Disk
Utility is to use "sudo chmod -a# 0 <folder-name>". I have no idea
what this syntax means. The tip was found on a MacBidouille user
forum, quoting MacFixIt. This seems to refer to two articles:
<http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20071108091216152>
<http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20071106085808151>
Hence I tried:
sudo chmod -a# 0 /Applications
sudo chmod -a# 0 /Library
It suppresses indeed the warning in Disk Utility, but it does not seem
to affect the authorizations problems I'm experiencing.
Again, this is OT, but I thought that's information which might be
useful in helping people decide whether or not to switch now.
Bruno Voisin
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