installing new HDD - changing permissions from root with GUI

[ronshor]

I installed new hard drive on my PC.

How can I change permissions from root to my user with the graphic user interface?

I tried kdesudo Dolphin but it seems like it doesn't exist anymore

[Virginio Miranda]

Just use krusader . Tools>Start Root Mode Krusader. Take care there.

[oshunluvr]

I installed new hard drive on my PC.

How can I change permissions from root to my user with the graphic user interface?

I tried kdesudo Dolphin but it seems like it doesn't exist anymore

That's because using any GUI tool - including Krusader - with root privileges can and will often cause major problems up to possibly leaving your install unbootable. The devs decided it was much better not to allow it.

I assume you're using EXT4 which requires either a permissions or user change to allow non-root users to access it.

The direct answer to 'How can I change permissions from root to my user with the graphic user interface?" is you can't, by design.

The typically acceptable method is to:

1. Open Konsole (or whatever terminal you prefer)
2. Mount the EXT4 file system
3. Enter this "sudo chown 1000:1000 <mnt>"

It takes only a few seconds. You'll spend more time trying to find a work-around the security.

The above assumes you are using the account that was in use at installation time and thus your user and primary groups IDs are 1000. You may instead use your username and primary group:

"sudo chown <user name>:<user group> <mnt>"

This all result in a file system accessable by only your user.

Another method, is to create (or modify) the file system to "world" access which allows any users to access the file system. Less secure, but more useful in a multi-user environment.

You can do this when creating the file system (formatting it) with KDE Partition manager by selecting "All Users" when formatting:



This results in a file system with "drwxrwxrwx" permissions after mounting.

After creation, you can do this manually:

1. Open Konsole (or whatever terminal you prefer)
2. Mount the EXT4 file system
3. Enter this "sudo chmod 777 <mnt>"

[ronshor]

Maybe I wasn't a clear enough in my post.

This is not my main hard drive where my operating system is on. This hard drive is supposed to be my second hard drive for file storage only.

And I have no need to change permissions on my main hard drive

This hard drive is located on /media.

So what do you say, is it going to be safe to use krusader to change permission for this hard drive ?

[oshunluvr]

Maybe I wasn't a clear enough in my post.

This is not my main hard drive where my operating system is on. This hard drive is supposed to be my second hard drive for file storage only.

And I have no need to change permissions on my main hard drive

This hard drive is located on /media.

So what do you say, is it going to be safe to use krusader to change permission for this hard drive ?

I believe I was clear that using a GUI tool with sudo is dangerous. I'm not going to suggest you do something potentially damaging. It's your system so do as you wish.

/media is intended for removable devices. If it's a second hard drive, it's not removable and therefore should not be mounted as a temporary device. I see no where in my previous post where I said anything about modify your main drive.

Regardless which way or where you mount it - as I believe I stated clearly above: If you used the EXT4 file system you must modify the file system permissions. Simply mount the drive wherever you want and "chown" the file system to your user.

[ronshor]

I think the main problem is that as amazing as kubuntu can be with so many things, It can still be very confusing sometimes with the most basic things.

And in my situation for example, I installed an internal hard drive.
Why the hell it is shown on /media if this folder is intended for removable devices?
And where exactly it's supposed to be ?

[Snowhog]

And where exactly it's supposed to be ?

Add an entry in /etc/fstab. Then, it will be auto-mounted at boot.

[claydoh]

Sure, the terminology night not be 100% clear.

But if the user can mount and unmount it, then it is ..... removable. The OS doesn't know or care if it's inside the case or not..

Linux mounting such things to /media is actually a standard, so this definitely isn't specific to Kubuntu. Or even KDE

Basically, if it's not in the fstsb or explicitly mounted to a specific place, automount will put it in /media/user

[Virginio Miranda]

I think the main problem is that as amazing as kubuntu can be with so many things, It can still be very confusing sometimes with the most basic things.

And in my situation for example, I installed an internal hard drive.
Why the hell it is shown on /media if this folder is intended for removable devices?
And where exactly it's supposed to be ?

Like claydoh said above /media is actually a standard and /mnt too.

For example: i have an LVM ( Logical Volume Management )with two hard disk mounted on /media on a folder called X, and have two more hard disks mounted on /media too as a user folder called y ( i symlink them ). LVM as a root and user folder as user.

You can create a folder on /media or /mnt and mount the hards disks there in the way Snowhog said as an entry in /etc/fstab. In this way it will be auto-mounted at boot.

Beside that there are specific situation that you need to mount the hard disks on /media or /mnt. Example: some specific software see the database or inside the system as root or outside the operational system in a separate hard disks drives. But the specific software only is able to see /media or /mnt outside of the OS.

In your case as example: you can create a folder on /media and mount the hard disk there using KDE Partition Manager.

In time: I just used krusader a lot of times to change permissions and never had a problem.

[jlittle]

If you do put it in /etc/fstab, I suggest adding noauto,user to the options. This avoids problems if the drive is not plugged in, but to use it you'd have to click on it in dolphin, or use the mount command on the CLI.

However, KDE has a more friendly method in system settings, removable storage, removable devices, IMO ideal for this use case.

[oshunluvr]

I think the main problem is that as amazing as kubuntu can be with so many things, It can still be very confusing sometimes with the most basic things.

And in my situation for example, I installed an internal hard drive.
Why the hell it is shown on /media if this folder is intended for removable devices?
And where exactly it's supposed to be ?

As Snowhog said: add it to /etc/fstab. This is not done auto-magically by the system because how would the system know how you're going to use it? This is a function of basic system administration - setting up new hardware.

As far as where it's supposed to be mounted, it's fully up to you. The /media folder uses special permissions for removable and IMO isn't a suitable place for an internal drive. The normal Linux convention is to make a folder in /mnt/ and mount it there unless it's being used for a specific system purpose. For example, if you're going to move the contents of /var/www to a different device for space reasons, you would mount it at /var/www.

Since it's just a "convention" and not a "rule" mount it wherever you like. I prefer to use meaningful mount points so six months from now I can remember what it's for, like "/mnt/storage" or whatever.

FYI: KDE Partition Manager can create the fstab entry for you. Simply select an unmounted file system on a device, right-click and select "Edit mount point", fill out the blanks and options and save.