Category: File System

(last updated at ) File System 4 comments

Linux system hardening: adding hidepid to /proc mount point

When looking in /proc you will discover a lot of files and directories. Many of them are just numbers, which represent the information about a particular process ID (PID). By default, Linux systems are deployed to allow all local users to see this all information. This includes process information from other users. This could include sensitive details that you may not want to share with other users. By applying some file system configuration tweaks, we can change this behavior and improve the […]

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(last updated at ) File System Leave a comment

Linux History: How Dot Files Became Hidden Files

The history of hidden files Ever wondered why there are files on your Linux system, starting with a dot? The short answer: they are shortcuts. The story begins many years ago when the first file systems were created on UNIX. To allow easy navigation, a single file with a dot (.) was added to each directory. Secondly, a double dot file (..) was added to easily move up in the directory structure. As these files had no real data in them, […]

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(last updated at ) Access Control List, File System, Storage 3 comments

Using xattrs or Extended Attributes on Linux

What are extended attributes? Extended attributes or xattrs, are an extensible mechanism to store metadata on a filesystem. Metadata is a collection of information or data points about a particular object. If we would compare this article, the metadata contains the title, author, description, language, Twitter image, etc. Normally the file system can only store a limited set of information about files. Typically this is the filename, ownership, file permissions, and dates. By using extended attributes, we can describe more properties of the […]

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(last updated at ) Access Control List, Auditing, File System Leave a comment

Plus sign in ls output

What is the + sign when using ls? Ever wondered what the plus (+) sign is when showing a directory listing? It is part of a POSIX standard to support access control lists (ACL) on files. Normal files on a file system will have only 10 characters displayed, with the last 9 used for file permissions. However, when file access control lists are used, an 11th character shows up. This plus sign indicates the usage of a file ACL. total […]

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