[naviserver-tracker] [ naviserver-Feature Requests-1120023 ] Allow to start server under root privilges

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Feature Requests item #1120023, was opened at 2005-02-10 14:30
Message generated for change (Comment added) made by vasiljevic
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https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=719009&aid=1120023&group_id=130646

Category: None
Group: None
Status: Open
Resolution: None
Priority: 5
Submitted By: Zoran Vasiljevic (vasiljevic)
Assigned to: Zoran Vasiljevic (vasiljevic)
Summary: Allow to start server under root privilges

Initial Comment:
Before all of you freak out, read please :-) 
 
Currently the server will just complain if you  
attempt to start it as root. However, we do need 
to do this. Our app is actually a backup/archive 
and server-synchronize product and it needs to 
access all files on the server and do something 
with them.  For this to work, I had to manually 
disable checking for user/group of 0/0 during the 
startup.  
 
Now, my idea is to allow compile-time option  
which would control this, like for example 
--enable-rootuser or similar. I think Apache build 
allows you to do this (at least it did when I worked 
with Apache for the last time, about 6 years ago). 
Default would be to *not* allow server to be started 
as root, which is what we have now.  
This can be 
#ifdef ALLOW_ROOT_USER 
#endif 
at one place in the nsmain.c.  
 
Any thoughts? 
 
 

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>Comment By: Zoran Vasiljevic (vasiljevic)
Date: 2005-02-11 21:50

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Allright for me. 
As soon as cvs is in place I will add this. 

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Comment By: Vlad Seryakov (seryakov)
Date: 2005-02-11 15:02

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That's okay with me

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Comment By: Stephen Deasey (sdeasey)
Date: 2005-02-11 04:50

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I think thttpd works like this.  A lot of it's config
settings are compile time only options (you actually have to
hack the makefile).

But Vlad makes a good point: If some one asks to run as root
maybe we should just respect that.  I'm not sure about
running as user 'nobody' as default though.  I think that is
an apache specific user, created when you install that
package.  It might not always exist.  Also, if all daemons
run as 'nobody' then you're really not increasing security,
because a flaw in one exposes the data of all the others
rather than contain it.

I would suggest the following:

You *have* to supply the user to switch to on the command
line.  If you don't, the server complains and exits.

You may specify root, in which case we log a warning message
but respect your wishes and continue.

Specifying any other user works as before.


I would be happy with something like that.  Sound OK?



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Comment By: Zoran Vasiljevic (vasiljevic)
Date: 2005-02-10 18:18

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You mean:
 no user given -> run as nobody (65534 or whatever uid
nobody is)
 user given -> run as this user, whatever the user (might be
root, uid=0)

OK. No problems for me. This is even simpler. 
If nobody objects, I will make this change.

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Comment By: Vlad Seryakov (seryakov)
Date: 2005-02-10 16:25

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I have no problem with that, if want NS to be more versatile
than just webserver we will have to run it as root for some
tasks, so i would suggest event more radical solution, if
root given as id on the command line, run it as root, if
nothing given via command line, switch to default nobody if
root.

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