User CD Mount

Graham Bentley gbentley at uk2.net
Sat Nov 20 03:05:16 PST 2004


Hi All,

I am trying to get permission to mount CD's when logged in non root
Following the handbook advice I have :-

As root set the sysctl variable vfs.usermount to 1.
# sysctl -w vfs.usermount=1
Added the line vfs.usermount=1 to the file /etc/sysctl.conf

Changed group perms on devs
# chgrp operator /dev/acd0
# chgrp operator /dev/acd1

Changed access perms
# chmod 640 /dev/acd0
# chmod 640 /dev/acd1

Changed group perms on the mount points
# chgrp operator /cdrom
# chgrp operator /cdrom1

Added myself to the operator group in /etc/group
operator:*:5:root,graham

However non of this worked - I could still not mount as non root
even though I was in the operator group.

Next I installed the sudo package and added my name to the list 
of adminsitrators. Whilst this had the desired outcome I still wasnt 
happy that I couldnt get this working without using sudo :(

Finally I change the owner on the mount point to my username
and that worked fine (without sudo)

However I still do not think I have done the right thing (being 
a bit of a noob :) as I have noticed that when I have mounted
the cd, an ls reveals the ownership as root:wheel - when I unmount
it is back to graham:operator ?

(gkrellm also always reports the devices as being busy even though 
I specified exactly the same mount command that works from cl )

This probably highlights my lack of understanding of permissions
etc so I was wondering if anyone could guide me in the path
to enlightenment ?

Thanks !!!


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