Permissions Issues and how can i just "wipe" a drive?

[tillkrueger]

I just upgraded from 5.0.6 to6 rc3, although i don't think that the issues i am seeing has to do with that (as i had some of them before this upgrade).

 

first issue is that one of my folders in a User Share showed "zero files" when i could see that the disk share folders with the same name *did* show files...bc i suspected some directory/file permission problem, i started to inspect every disk share and found one disk with that folder which actually did have zero files in it and tried to delete it...every time i try to delete a file or folder on that disk (and some others as well) i get a Finder error "The operation can’t be completed because you don’t have permission to access some of the items." when i try to check permissions for any folder on that disk (and i think all others), i get "You have custom access"...when i check the access permissions in my FTP client (Transmit), i get "700" permissions for the User Share folder.

 

let's just say that there appears to be a strange mixture of access permissions on my unRAID drives that make it difficult or impossible at time to move files and/or delete them...right now i am in the process of backing up the content of one of the drives onto another, so that i can wipe it clean.

 

so i have a few questions:

 

does this sound like i need to "repair" permissions on my system, and if so, how do i do this?

 

if i were to get into the data management of it all to the point of consolidating the contents of some of the smaller drives onto the bigger ones (the split level copying to User Shares can create quite a mess of folders across all disks, with the same name but only containing a few files, which i'd like to consolidate before upgrading to bigger drives), is there a method by which i can *remotely* wipe disks to be empty? (preferably something quick, like a "Quick Format")

 

so, in a nutshell:

 

> should i repair permissions across all drives, and if so, how? (are there dangers, and if so which ones?)

> once i copy a drive's content to another drive, and cannot delete that drive's content (bc permissions won't let me), how can i remotely "Quick Format" it to show as empty?

 

btw, none of my drives show errors and all pass SMART testing.

[dgaschk]

Run Tools->New Permissions.

[tillkrueger]

lost remote desktop contact to the computer controlling my unRAID yesterday, so i will have to wait until tomorrow to try this...thanks!

[tillkrueger]

aaaactually, i was able to get a remote Firefox session running on the computer that controls unRAID and got to the Web GUI that way.

 

as a first test, i started New Permissions on only the disk that i want to delete the files from and couldn't, but i get no visible feedback from the New Permissions pop-up window in the remote Firefox session.

 

out of curiosity, when i can sit in front of the computer and server again, is there a way to run this New Permissions script from a telnet session and get full feedback of what it's doing? if so, what would be the syntax for that?

[tillkrueger]

ok, i am getting feedback now in that Firefox pop-up window...can anyone tell me whether this appears to be doing its thing or whether this is not the kind of output i am hoping for:

 

chmod: changing permissions of '/mnt/disk14/unRAID/_BAK/filename...' Read-only file system

 

does that mean it's changing it *from" being a Read-only file to one that is read/write, or that it can *not* change it because it is read-only?

 

and another question:

 

looking at how long it is taking to work itself through just a couple of directories in one of the many directories on one of the smallest disks on my unRAID, logic would dictate that this would take days, if not weeks to work itself through the entire 20TB on the 14 data drives in my unRAID...is there a viable alternative to this? i suppose that backing up the entire array to big external drives, then wiping it out entirely and copying the data back onto it would be quicker than what i am seeing right now..i may be delusional about this, but i am seeing chmod times of about 1 minute and more per little PNG file right now, so there is little hope of this one disk getting through New Permissions within a day or even two.

 

what is going on here?!

 

if this behavior holds true for every disk in my array (they all seem to show 'You have custom access') and the New Permissions script really does take days per drive, i do have one of those external USB3 dual drive docking stations for cloning/maintaining drives...might i be better off getting my data off these drives one by one and starting from scratch? i have been thinking about building a more compact unRAID system with a more modern mobo and CPU(s), and fewer/bigger disks...maybe this would be the time?

 

but i'd prefer to get this issue resolved before getting into a project like that.

[itimpi]

chmod: changing permissions of '/mnt/disk14/unRAID/_BAK/filename...' Read-only file system

 

does that mean it's changing it *from" being a Read-only file to one that is read/write, or that it can *not* change it because it is read-only?

I believe that indicates that it could NOT be changed because the file system is currently read-only.  This normally means that some sort of file-system corruption has been detected which is why the disk ahs been set read-oonly and you need to run the file system recovery tool that is appropriate to the format of that disk.

[tillkrueger]

before i get in front of that machine later this week, i am wondering what to do if this - for some reason - is a system-wide condition caused by something...could anything cause the *entire* file system on unRAID to become corrupt...this whole 'You have custom access' business appears to be happening with an awful lot of files and folders.

 

so you're saying that i will have to find a reiserfs system recovery tool and deal with those disks that have this problem individually? i fear that i know the answer, but there wouldn't be a free tool that does such repairs? it seems that every time data-loss is a risk, big $$ are being asked to fix it.

[garycase]

...  i will have to find a reiserfs system recovery tool and deal with those disks that have this problem individually? i fear that i know the answer, but there wouldn't be a free tool that does such repairs? it seems that every time data-loss is a risk, big $$ are being asked to fix it.

 

Actually reiserfsck is an excellent tool ... and is FREE 

 

It's included in your UnRAID Linux distribution.    Just search this forum for examples of its use => I'm not an expert with this tool; but several others are ... and the results can sometimes be nothing short of amazing.

 

[tillkrueger]

yes, now that you mention it, i just had to deal with it a few months ago, after another disk on this system was in the process of giving up its ghost and needed help...i'll go back to that thread, do more searches and/or ask more specific questions here if need be...thx for all your help, garycase!