investigation: file protection — research xattr/chattr/permissions approach #197
Description
Sub-issue of #13 (investigation scope).
Context
Parent issue requests protecting user GUI and base config files from accidental deletion.
Multiple approaches exist (xattr, chattr +i, strict permissions, ACLs) with different
trade-offs for a multi-tenant seedbox environment.
Questions requiring operator input
- Which files/directories should be protected? (GUI configs, .rtorrent.rc, lighttpd.conf, others?)
- Which mechanism? (chattr +i is strongest but prevents legitimate updates; permissions + ownership may suffice)
- Should protection be applied at provisioning time, or retroactively to existing users?
- How should PMSS updates interact with protected files? (temporarily remove protection?)
- Impact on user self-service — some users legitimately modify their configs
Research needed
- Audit which files users commonly delete that cause service breakage
- Check if any existing PMSS code already uses chattr/xattr
- Survey Debian 10-13 compatibility of chosen mechanism
Out of scope
- Implementation (pending operator decision on approach)
— Sampsa Pellervoinen 🌱