Random Wisdom

rssh is a tool that allows SFTP/SCP for file transfers over SSH but denies shell access — useful for preventing users from running commands on the system. More details are available on the tool’s homepage.

I first came across it on this page.

Very useful for servers/shared machines:

Disable Shutdown For Normal Users

Addendum:

Setting file mode for /etc/acpi/events/power.conf to “0000” is not sufficient to disable the power button. It’s better to:

1. Uninstall gnome-power-manager
2. Leave file permissions for power.conf unchanged and simply set the action= line to an empty string

It is also advisable to set the local login screen style to plain in gdmsetup.

Finally figured out how to password protect individual directories on the server:

Authentication, Authorization and Access Control

It’s a simple 2-step process:

1. Create a passwords file for the users using “htpasswd“:

jsmith@server:~/public_html/db$ htpasswd -c ~/htpasswds jdoe
New password:
Re-type new password:
Adding password for user jdoe
jsmith@server:~/public_html/db$

2. Create a file “.htaccess” in the directory to be protected:

jsmith@server:~/public_html/db$ cat .htaccess
AuthType Basic
AuthName "db"
AuthUserFile /home/jsmith/htpasswds
Require user jdoe