( Re Message From: I Brake for Moths )
>
> Is there a way for a user without root priveleges to cleanly unmount the
> root file system and shutdown the computer?
>
> I've been running 'init 0' as root before turning off the box, but I
> don't want to have to give out the root password to my family (it's bad
> enough that I know it!) just so they can turn the thing off when I'm not
> around. We'd rather not leave it on when it is not in use.
>
> Thanks,
> Rikki
No way to do it directly -- of course. However, root can fix it so it can
be done.
Root starts a little program (owned by root) which just loops and watches
say /tmp for the occurence of a file (owned by anyone) called say
/tmp/down_now.
The program then deletes /tmp/down_now, and then shuts the system down in
the usual way (e.g. by calling shutdown -h now).
Then all any user needs to do is "touch /tmp/down_now". An example program
might be
while true ; do
if [ -f /tmp/down_now ] ; then
rm /tmp/down_now
shutdown -h now
fi
sleep 60
done
Of course, if you can trust people to manage to switch off a re-booting
computer during the "safe period" (i.e. after re-boot has started but
before Linux really gets under way) then simply Ctrl-Alt-Del should do it.
Ted. ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
