Accidental Deleted Files 1

[NattyP]

A recent incident at my workplace resulted in a live database being deleted in the middle of the day using rm -r

What measures can I implement to prevent this incident ever recurring?

 

[kHz]

If the person who did that (e.g., DBA) has the permissions to do that, then there isn't much you can do to prevent it. But if they don't need the permissions, then restrict them. If the owner:group is oracle:dba and they are in the dba group but don't need to be in it, then remove them from the dba group. Otherwise, hope you have good backups.

If this was their first time doing that, I am sure they feel REALLY bad, and they will certainly be more cautious in the future. If this isn't their first time doing it, then you may need to consider having them do something else. Maybe in operations where they print reports, etc., and have strict control over what they have authority to do.

 

[KenCunningham]

You could also consider making an alias for rm using rm -i, which at least gives a warning of the files that are about to be deleted.

 

[olded]

If your rm problem happens in a shell script, you might consider the safeguarding the rm command tip:

http://www.unixreview.com/documents/s=9455/ur0412d/ur0412d.html

 

[daFranze]

the "save" rm link is realy great

Best Regards, Franz
--
UNIX System Manager from Munich, Germany

 

[NattyP]

Thanks all for your suggestions.

I plan to do the following:
1. Implement an alias for rm -r on all servers to rm -ir
2. Attempt to prepare guidelines for server housekeeping, and script as much of it as possible
3. Evaluate what Solaris offers that will allow users to work more as their user and less as root

 

[KenCunningham]

You might also consider sudo for greater control over which users can do what.