# $omfileForceChown

Type: action configuration parameter

Parameter Values: boolean (on/off, yes/no)

Available: 4.7.0+, 5.3.0-5.8.x, NOT available in 5.9.x or higher

Note: this parameter has been removed and is no longer available. The documentation is currently being retained for historical reaons. Expect it to go away at some later stage as well.

Default: off

Description:

Forces rsyslogd to change the ownership for output files that already exist. Please note that this tries to fix a potential problem that exists outside the scope of rsyslog. Actually, it tries to fix invalid ownership/permission settings set by the original file creator.

Rsyslog changes the ownership during initial execution with root privileges. When a privilege drop is configured, privileges are dropped after the file owner ship is changed. Not that this currently is a limitation in rsyslog’s privilege drop code, which is on the TODO list to be removed. See Caveats section below for the important implications.

Caveats:

This parameter tries to fix a problem that actually is outside the scope of rsyslog. As such, there are a couple of restrictions and situations in which it will not work. Users are strongly encouraged to fix their system instead of turning this parameter on - it should only be used as a last resort.

At least in the following scenario, this parameter will fail expectedly:

It does not address the situation that someone changes the ownership *after* rsyslogd has started. Let’s, for example, consider a log rotation script.

- rsyslog is started

- ownership is changed

- privileges dropped

- log rotation (lr) script starts

- lr removes files

- lr creates new files with root:adm (or whatever else)

- lr HUPs rsyslogd

- rsyslogd closes files

- rsyslogd tries to open files

- rsyslogd tries to change ownership –> fail as we are non-root now

- file open fails

Please note that once the privilege drop code is refactored, this parameter will no longer work, because then privileges will be dropped before any action is performed, and thus we will no longer be able to chown files that do not belong to the user rsyslogd is configured to run under.

So expect the parameter to go away. It will not be removed in version 4, but may disappear at any time for any version greater than 4.

Sample:

`$FileOwner loguser $omfileForceChown on`

See also

Help with configuring/using `Rsyslog`:

- Mailing list - best route for general questions

- GitHub: rsyslog source project - detailed questions, reporting issues that are believed to be bugs with `Rsyslog`

- Stack Exchange (View, Ask) - experimental support from rsyslog community

See also

Contributing to `Rsyslog`:

- Source project: rsyslog project README.

- Documentation: rsyslog-doc project README

Copyright 2008-2020 Rainer Gerhards (Großrinderfeld), and Others.