gnupg on FlashDisk with autofs (o.t.?)

Pilkington, Christopher J. cpilkington@ghi.com
Thu Oct 3 20:51:02 2002


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If there is a problem with locking on FAT12 filesystems (and other similar
filesystems) under Linux, how is locking handled in OSes where FAT is the
native fs?

Christopher

-----Original Message-----
From: David Shaw [mailto:dshaw@jabberwocky.com]
Sent: Wednesday, October 02, 2002 7:18 PM
To: GnuPG users
Subject: Re: gnupg on FlashDisk with autofs (o.t.?)


On Wed, Oct 02, 2002 at 12:08:15PM +0200, Thomas Liesner wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> well, i actually resigned... There is no solution for it.
> The problem is the filesystem. Those flash-disks come with a vfat
> filesystem out of their box. Vfat does not know anything about
> users/permissions etc. (hence no chmod/chown etc.). The only solution is
> to mount it with umask 777 which is not really an option ;) Changing
> it's filesystem to to something like ext2nd is not working with my
> MacOS-X box and ufs is not working with my MacOS-9 box... And now think
> of ntfs...
> Okay, i think i stick to vfat and keep my hands securly on the disk...
> Too bad.

There is a solution.  The problem is in locking, so if you use
--lock-never then GnuPG will not try and lock the keyrings.  However,
you will need to make very sure you never run two copies of GnuPG at
the same time :)

One good way to do it is to keep the pubring online as it is the one
people generally need to write to when importing new keys, and only
keeping the secring on the flash disk.  No locking issues in that
system unless you want to add a new secret key.

David

-- 
   David Shaw  |  dshaw@jabberwocky.com  |  WWW http://www.jabberwocky.com/
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
   "There are two major products that come out of Berkeley: LSD and UNIX.
      We don't believe this to be a coincidence." - Jeremy S. Anderson

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<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>If there is a problem with locking on FAT12 =
filesystems (and other similar filesystems) under Linux, how is locking =
handled in OSes where FAT is the native fs?</FONT></P>

<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>Christopher</FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>-----Original Message-----</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>From: David Shaw [<A =
HREF=3D"mailto:dshaw@jabberwocky.com">mailto:dshaw@jabberwocky.com</A>]<=
/FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>Sent: Wednesday, October 02, 2002 7:18 PM</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>To: GnuPG users</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>Subject: Re: gnupg on FlashDisk with autofs =
(o.t.?)</FONT>
</P>
<BR>

<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>On Wed, Oct 02, 2002 at 12:08:15PM +0200, Thomas =
Liesner wrote:</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>&gt; Hi,</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>&gt; </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>&gt; well, i actually resigned... There is no =
solution for it.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>&gt; The problem is the filesystem. Those =
flash-disks come with a vfat</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>&gt; filesystem out of their box. Vfat does not know =
anything about</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>&gt; users/permissions etc. (hence no chmod/chown =
etc.). The only solution is</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>&gt; to mount it with umask 777 which is not really =
an option ;) Changing</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>&gt; it's filesystem to to something like ext2nd is =
not working with my</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>&gt; MacOS-X box and ufs is not working with my =
MacOS-9 box... And now think</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>&gt; of ntfs...</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>&gt; Okay, i think i stick to vfat and keep my hands =
securly on the disk...</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>&gt; Too bad.</FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>There is a solution.&nbsp; The problem is in locking, =
so if you use</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>--lock-never then GnuPG will not try and lock the =
keyrings.&nbsp; However,</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>you will need to make very sure you never run two =
copies of GnuPG at</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>the same time :)</FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>One good way to do it is to keep the pubring online =
as it is the one</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>people generally need to write to when importing new =
keys, and only</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>keeping the secring on the flash disk.&nbsp; No =
locking issues in that</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>system unless you want to add a new secret =
key.</FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>David</FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT SIZE=3D2>-- </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>&nbsp;&nbsp; David Shaw&nbsp; |&nbsp; =
dshaw@jabberwocky.com&nbsp; |&nbsp; WWW <A =
HREF=3D"http://www.jabberwocky.com/" =
TARGET=3D"_blank">http://www.jabberwocky.com/</A></FONT>
<BR><FONT =
SIZE=3D2>+--------------------------------------------------------------=
-------------+</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>&nbsp;&nbsp; &quot;There are two major products that =
come out of Berkeley: LSD and UNIX.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; We don't believe this =
to be a coincidence.&quot; - Jeremy S. Anderson</FONT>
</P>

<P><FONT =
SIZE=3D2>_______________________________________________</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>Gnupg-users mailing list</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2>Gnupg-users@gnupg.org</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2><A =
HREF=3D"http://lists.gnupg.org/mailman/listinfo/gnupg-users" =
TARGET=3D"_blank">http://lists.gnupg.org/mailman/listinfo/gnupg-users</A=
></FONT>
</P>

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