Re: Changing home for root

Wil Cooley <wcooley@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> Basic recommendation for new AIX systems:
>> 1) Create for the user ROOT its own filessytem ( /root ) and change the
>> home directory to ( /root) . Otherwise you are going to trash your
>> system on the long run if you not keep an eye on / ( Which is the home
>> directory for the user root - Do not forget to move the .ssh and
>> .rhosts to the new home diretcory as well )
> ...
>
> Is this generally considered a safe thing to do? I'd really love to do
> this--I've spent most of my sys admin-life on Linux and really hate the
> clutter and feel unsafe having root's files "listable" by users.
>
> Other than, perhaps, setup scripts that assume the location of /.rhosts,
> what are the other considerations or pitfalls?

I believe that it is a good idea to change root's home to /root (I have
frequently done so on AIX system I have administered), but I advise
against creating a file system /root.

The reason is that when you run in maintenance or service mode, /root
may not be mounted, and whatever config files you have there will not be
available.

I do not accept the point that having /root in the / file system presents
a danger of inadvertedly filling up the root file system:
That is, unless you run programs like netscape while you are root.
This is something you should not do under any circumstances anyway.
Use root only for commands that require root, everything else is bad.

If you think you can reduce the danger in carelessly using the root
account by having /root on a seperate file system, you are wrong.

Yours,
Laurenz Albe
.

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