Re: Question about file ownership after restart and possible login delay
By: Winzlo to All on Fri Apr 24 2026 08:58 am
> Hi all,
>
> I've been doing some testing on my Synchronet 3.21 system under Linux, and I
> ran into something I'm not entirely sure I'm interpreting correctly. I
> wanted to run it by the group in case I'm misunderstanding expected
> behavior.
>
> My setup is a fairly standard one where Synchronet starts as root (to bind
> to low ports) and then drops privileges to the sbbs user.
>
> While troubleshooting an unrelated login delay, I noticed that after
> restarting the BBS using sudo, a couple of files ended up owned by root:
>
> - /sbbs/data/msgs/0001.msg
> - /sbbs/data/error.log
>
> When those files are owned by root, logging in (especially as user #1)
> introduces a noticeable delay during the logon process. Once I change
> ownership back to sbbs:sbbs, the delay goes away immediately.
>
> That made me wonder a couple things:
>
> - Is it expected that these files might be created or touched before the
> privilege drop occurs?
> - Or should they normally end up owned by the runtime user (sbbs) even after
> a restart?
> - Is there a recommended way to avoid this situation when restarting (for
> example, a preferred service method)?
>
> It's entirely possible I'm missing something about the startup sequence, so
> I figured I'd ask before digging further in the wrong direction.
>
> Really appreciate any insight.
I don't recommend running sbbs under sudo. Fix the file ownerships and use the s
etcap target instead (see https://wiki.synchro.net/howto:linux_non-root for deta
ils) and run as the 'sbbs' (or equivalent user) - never root.
--
digital man (rob)
This Is Spinal Tap quote #22:
David St. Hubbins: Here lies David St. Hubbins... and why not?
Norco, CA WX: 66.3°F, 58.0% humidity, 3 mph WSW wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs
---
■ Synchronet ■ Vertrauen ■ Home of Synchronet ■ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net
|
