000038223 - Unable to perform any operation on a file even as root on an RSA NetWitness Platform appliance

Document created by RSA Customer Support Employee on Dec 20, 2019
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Article Number000038223
Applies ToRSA Product Set: NetWitness Platform
RSA Product/Service Type: All services
RSA Version/Condition: 11.X
Platform: CentOS
O/S Version: 7
IssueIn an unlikely situation, you may find you are not able to perform any operation (modify, remove, move, rename etc.) on a certain file, even when logged in as root.
You would see error messages like "Operation not permitted", "Permission denied" or similar when trying to accomplish any task on the file. For example:
 

[root@nwserver ~]# rm -f example-file 
rm: cannot remove ‘example-file’: Operation not permitted

[root@nwserver ~]# echo "test" >> example-file 
-bash: example-file: Permission denied


 
ResolutionThis issue is likely caused by the immutable attribute on the file.

You can verify this with the lsattr command. The presence of the 'i' flag in the output means the immutable attribute has been set.

Example:

[root@nwserver ~]# lsattr
----i----------- ./example-file  <========== immutable attribute set



To remove/unset the immutable flag, use the chattr command with -i mode:


chattr -i example-file


Verify:

[root@nwserver ~]# lsattr
---------------- ./example-file <========== immutable attribute removed

 
With the immutable flag unset, you should now be able to perform the desired operation on the file.


If you are unsure of any of the steps above or experience any issues, contact RSA Support and quote this article number for further assistance.
 

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