I inadvertently did the following: 

mv ../lib* .

from
/local

(which really means - all files inside /lib/ got moved to /local/)

.. and now I CANNOT get into the box. 'Access Denied' as a root or a regular user. However, I still have the currently running SSH session, which doesn't let me do much - except for cd, pwd, echo and couple other basic commands (no cp, mv, ls etc). Can't sudo either (not that it would help much). Anyone has a clue - workaround?

~@~

the only way i can think of is to access the machine physically and boot it off of cd and fix it !

I agree with you @babali, that's always an option --- but if there was a way to somehow inject those files into it, that would be magnificent!!

.

I just wanted to say You're doomed buddy ;)

The first solution that comes to my mind would be: Boot it from a LIVE CD or sth, mount it, do the necessary copying, and voila!

THE other play that i would possibly do is: (not sure if it will work)

Find any source files (copying scripts) installed that didnot have dependency on /lib folders. (scp, sftp, rsync, copywhendisaster) - very dim chance. Or else, if there's anyway you can compile scripts , run gcc for that matter, use cp.c in coreutils/src to generate a binary (on that machine or a dift one) to move files back. I bet all of these would just be FOR FUN.

I would suggest you, if you cant anyhow follow the first option, start again. Accidents Happen ;)

.

And whats the mailing list / forum that you posted this on ? I'd like to keep an eye to think of any other options too.

mv does not mean you moved it. It means it got renamed.

e.g. mv x x.bkp means file x got renamed x.bkp.

So when you did -> mv ../lib* . from  /local, I believe the files with beginning with "lib" became ".".

I believe cp would have copied the files.
 
So I think booting the server with a live cd, then mounting the file systems and then doing,

cd  to /local

then doing mv again to all the renamed files might help.

I guess I would make sure how the files will get renamed back by checking the contents of the . dir...

What do you have under /lib? are there files simply named "."??

K'dude

 

.

Katmandude,

$mv ../lib* .
from /usr/local/ would copy(move) the folder /usr/lib into /usr/local as /usr/local/lib.

Saajha, Can you think of a way, you can simply ask the OS to boot using /usr/local/lib instead of /usr/lib to find its libraries , provided the permissions are ok on the copied files. Something like LIB_PATH or editing init interfaces? I guess that'd still be the other workaround.

PS: LD_LIBRARY_PATH / ldconfig ??? These might come handy, the command of these sorts.

# /sbin/ldconfig -n /usr/local/lib

You are right Oldmaven...rebuild.

 

1. You said it is not production box, not much critical, so take it easy.. grab a cup of black coffee and take a long deep breathe. And dont forget to thank god, it was mv command, not rm.

2. Talk to your boss, dont feel embarrassing. Shit happens.. specially in sys admin job. He will understand it.

3. No backup, no root privilege and working on remote machine = You can not do anything in this case.

4. Guys, he is saying- he can not issue any system-level commands, so forget about rebooting / installing with LIVE CD . Unless there is some back-up/restore script (I strongly believe it should be there), he can not write back to /lib/ as a normal user.

5. Back up what you have copied to your /local directory. Someone with su access will restore back to /lib/.

6. 'mv does not mean you moved it. It means it got renamed.' - Please dont advise unless you know what you are saying..

7. You learn the most when you make mistakes (as long as it is not so disastrous that you will be screwed up.. )
 

 

@BM: rm or mv -- no difference in this case; these are the libraries that come with OS -- can copy them from a different machine or a CD.

@oldmaven: I like your idea of making the OS look for those libraries under /local/lib instead of /lib during bootup. But that requires editing the script - while no vi or nano gets recognized. Also /sbin/ldconfig couldn't execute. Do you (or anyone) know if a text file can be pushed using echo?

@k'dude: I agree with your explanation on mv and 'rename' being the same (mv is what you really use in *NIX to rename a file) --- someone told me the other day that one of the libraries I moved (renamed) was PAM library, which plays role in authentication; and since the system doesn't find it on its default location (with default name), it cannot verify authentication.



~@~

having root user as local does not have anything to with /lib folder being moved..
user information is stored in /etc/ folder under passwd file.
which flavor of unix r u using?

try to grep the passwd file for root and look for UID, its the 3rd field separated by ";"
root should have uid of "0".

in order to run other commands you may try to get into the /lib/ folder that you moved your content into then envoking those commands.. (if i am understanding your question right)

Good Luck!

.

I am finding it hard to believe that echo works but cp doesnt work, when i believe they are from the same directory. /bin/cp , /bin/echo , at least on this not-enterprise edition. Are they in yours?

If you find the magic place to change the library path besides rebuilding kernel, you can easily include it to the end of the script file with echo as  

$echo "LD_LIBRARY_PATH=working/directory" >> script.file   (sth like this to append to the script)

There was one which modifies dynamic library load path of compiled programs and libraries, which you can use for your pam.so if you arent getting the PAM modules for authentication.Its called "chrpath" , but i guess you dont have it installed by default on your machine.

Could you please provide error msgs as well , as what it says . Also possibly point out what scripts work and what dont, which privileges you have, which you dont.

And we can take these discussions off Sajha too, into a total technical arena, if you like.

@oldmaven -- there's no need to find a separate sandbox for this discussion. I bet San wouldn't mind us exchanging our views here. This is supposed to be an open forum (sabaiko sajha), No?  

Anyways, here's a quick proof of concept I prepared earlier today, mimicking my original steps. Even though this was done on Fedora Core 6, I could replicate the exact same steps/outcome as on RHEL 5 (as anticipated). Want to take a look?

http://www.2shared.com/file/3617119/deb347c/POC.html

@bond_oo7, I can't do grep anymore on this box! You probably didn't read the whole thread? Regardless, I should thank you for the advice! Please keep 'em coming!! 

.

I think i got it.

$ /local/lib/ld-linux.so.2 --library-path /local/lib /bin/ln -s /local/lib/ /lib

Let us know if it works!

DUDE -- Two thumbs way up for this effort of yours!!!! YES IT WORKS !!!!!!!!!

It did fine on the virtual machine that I did POC earlier.

I'll reach my 'original' box first thing tomorrow morning  and replicate it! However there's a possible caveat....

This box needs users to sudo into root to do almost everything.  When I did mv ../lib* . , I did it as root. Now that I am a regular user, the question is whether or not this command would execute when I run it as myself. In any case, kudos to oldmaven --- my issue is more of an experimental fun than a necessity at this point (a new machine has already been shipped to the data center). I can always use this one as a load balancer if we decide to keep it there! 

Thanks everyone involved in this discussion thread for your intiative and input.

Technology Rocks ~eh!!

~@~