Immutable bit on AIX?

Question

Under Linux I can:

chattr +i SOMEFILE

so that even root can't modify the SOMEFILE. Are there any similar solutions for AIX?

According to this IBM article on AIX V6.1 security features, there is support for immutable files. I don't know how it's done.

Mat · Answer 1 · 2012-01-07 20:06:54Z

up vote 0 down vote

At first I thought that ACLs could do the job. But a quick google revealed that the owner and root can (re)set ACLs on AIX.

chattr is specific to ex3/ext3 file-systems (and thus specific to Linux) - so I would say - you need a file-system that supports this feature.

A workaround might be using an NFSv4-mount from another server. In that environment root normally is mapped to a different (not privileged) UID.

edited Jan 7 '12 at 20:06

Mat
16.4k24068

answered Jan 5 '12 at 20:37

Nils
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	Root can reset the immutable bit on Linux too. I don't know anything about AIX ACLs, what is available that's relevant here? – Gilles Jan 5 '12 at 23:31
	extended acl's maybe can do something like the "immuntable bit/flag" under other OSes, but I don't know how. – LanceBaynes Jan 6 '12 at 14:02
	FileSystem is JFS2 – LanceBaynes Jan 6 '12 at 14:02

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