Messed up /etc permissions

Question

I was going to modify my.conf file so I wanted to change its permissions, but I ran the code in the current dir instead of only the file

Now all files in the /etc (and the folders) have 777 permissions. Now when I run a terminal, it shows "/etc/bash.bashrc: Permission denied" error.

Also I was using proxy and now proxy is also does not work and I cannot reach to the internet from that machine.

I am using OpenSuse...

How can I fix all permissions?

Answer 1

You need another similar machine with also OpenSuse (or install a Virtual Machine image). You should be able to do ssh against this image:

Put a simple script in this server, like (e.g: call it show_permission and put on the $HOME):

#!/bin/bash
if [ -e $1 ]
then
   find $1 -printf "%m %p\n" 
else
   echo ERROR $1
fi

Then, in your ill-server, you can execute this:

find /etc/ -exec ssh <IMAGE_SERVER> ./show_permission {} ";"

to get the permissions to restore. The lines that start with ERROR, will need manual fix.

With this command you will get a permission list of /etc files. Append chmod to all lines and execute. Double check it first, this time :D