[OT] How to fix a stupid chmod mistake without rebooting

[Derek Broughton]

Matthew Flaschen wrote:

> So by this point I am rather unhappy, and wondering if I'm going to
> break out a rescue CD.  But of course, I had root enabled on this
> machine, so I finally remembered the virtual terminal (already running
> login) could save me:
> 
> Login as root.  Enter:
> 
> sudo chmod a+rx /

"sudo" would be a bit of overkill here :-)
> 
> Save the day.
> 
> Lessons (pick any two)
> 
> 1. Keep root enabled
> 2. sudo will not stop you from making stupid decisions.
> 3. Don't run sudo chmod a-rwx /

I'm not sure those are the right lessons.

Lesson 1: You don't need a rescue CD to rescue yourself in this situation
(or a root account).  Simply reboot into single user mode.

Lesson 2: It probably should be at least mildly difficult to fix such
errors, to discourage you from doing it again :)
-- 
derek