Re: Creating many virtual servers (jails) in Linux

From: Ringo Langly (rlangly_at_gmail.com)
Date: 08/31/04 

Date: 31 Aug 2004 06:20:15 -0700

Jeroen Geilman <not@rtpada.ln> wrote in message news:<bqbc02-tp6.ln1@core.adaptr.nl>...
> Ringo Langly wrote:
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I'm setting up a web server, and I'd like each user to have their own
> > virtual server so they can, as root, do whatever changes they want
> > without it effecting the server or other users as a whole.
>
> This does not parse - either you are root, in which case there are no
> restrictions, or you are not, in which case you are a normal user.
>
> If you want to achieve this in apache I'd suggest you set up mass
> virtual hosting and point the virtual document root to
> /home/$WEBSITE/html or some such.
> Then you can give them FTP access and confine them to their home dir.
> This is relatively easy compared to what you suggest.
>
> If you want to give users the opportunity to do administrative tasks -
> sure, just make sure your groups and permissions are set up correctly.
> No root access is needed for *any* of this.
>
> Understand that this is *not* a chroot "jail", since apache will still
> run as its own process, and not under the users' UID.

Hi Jeroen,

I hadn't heard of doing this really, but some BSD folks told me it was
possible, so I thought I'd throw the question out there. I've heard
of Linux boxes being setup as 'virtual servers' (not hosts) where each
user could somehow have their own /etc and /home directories to
configure as they like without fubing the box or other user's 'virtual
servers'. It gives the user the appearance of having their own
dedicated server without actually doing that.

I've been told this is called 'jailing' on BSD, but since I've never
messed with this part of Linux and never really messed with BSD per
say, I thought I'd throw the question out there.

Thanks for the reply and take care,

- Ringo -

Relevant Pages

  • RFX Networks/ RackAdmin.com ALERT
    ... below was posted to some security websites. ... | in security and scalable server management on varying levels. ... Got Root? ... Your Server login ID is: ...
    (comp.os.linux)
  • RFX NETWORKS ALERT
    ... below was posted to some security websites. ... | in security and scalable server management on varying levels. ... Got Root? ... Your Server login ID is: ...
    (alt.linux)
  • Solaris Sparc 9 12/3 Core ./installer failing due Java?
    ... system SUNWadmr System & Network Administration Root ... system SUNWapchd Apache Web Server Documentation ... system SUNWapchu Apache Web Server (usr) ... system SUNWaudd Audio Drivers ...
    (comp.unix.solaris)
  • core install of Solaris 9 (sparc) package list can be trimmed ?
    ... This is a server that will have very specific reasons ... system SUNWadmr System & Network Administration Root ... system SUNWeu8os American English/UTF-8 L10N For OS Environment User Files ... system R SUNWfcip Sun FCIP IP/ARP over FibreChannel Device Driver ...
    (comp.unix.solaris)
  • [Full-Disclosure] RFX Networks
    ... | in security and scalable server management on varying levels. ... | monitor to take action during situations of service failure. ... Got Root? ... Your Server login ID is: ...
    (Full-Disclosure)