Routine Policy

Typically, running out of disk space can be a problem. If you're the sysadmin, maybe it's your problem.

The Host Window lists all of the volumes (disks) on the machine. We can see that the volume at /suse52 is in trouble, it's full.


By selecting the volume and typing / (slash), you can see better what the problem is.

Be sure to use slash, because Enter or double clicking brings up the Directory window instead.






The /suse52 partition holds a working SuSE 5.2 installation that multiboots with this one.


This Volume Window gives us an overview of the entire volume, and who's using up space.

Well, /usr is using space, but that's normal - it could easily take up 50% to 90% of a typical Unix installation.

But what's that other thing? We can quickly trace the big directory icons down to the final directory with no subdirectories: dn


To see inside the directory, double click.

The "dn" Window lists all of the files in that directory.
We can see that one file is much larger than the others.

The file size and icon size differences are not proportional - otherwise most of the icons would be invisible. Interrogator uses a curve that accentuates the largest files in a given window. The sizes are always relative to the entire window, so that the biggest files are more obvioius. But if there are only a few k in a directory, a file doesn't have to try hard to appear big.

The Delete menu is intentionally a bit challenging for a reason: to keep you from deleting too quickly. If you're still in a hurry, just type this:

  X11 MacOS
delete selected file shift^altT cmd^T
delete selected file
(alternate)
Delete Delete
which one?
delete selected file
and avoid dialog
altF shift^altT ^F cmd^T
delete selected file instantly and
avoid dialog (alternate)
altF Delete ^F Delete


Unfortunately, you don't seem to have
the authority needed to do such a thing.

To look at the details of a file, turn on Full Disclosure mode.

  X11 MacOS
Full Disclosure mode ^I cmd I
open Volume window for selection altV altO ^V ^O



Then just click on a file to see all about it.

Ah, we can see that this is owned by somebody named amanda
in allan's group.
And, it's huge, way beyond policy.
And, nobody else can mess with it.
But Amanda can mess with it and indeed was doing so just a few minutes ago.




Since we're the sys admin, we can delete this flagrant violation of corporate disk usage policy. Just use the SuperUser command to get root on your current machine. Or, if the file is on another machine, you can tunnel through ssh to get to it and start another Interrogator session.

Note: The SuperUser command might not work properly if you move the Interrogator program file after starting it up. It works by running the same executable, in the same location, as it came from. If you have moved the executable, simply quit Interrogator and start over.

Similarly, the Secure Connect and X Connect commands (only available on X11, not on Mac) assume that on the target machine, there is a command tint that is available to be run when it gets there. You may have to install Interrogator there, and/or adjust $PATH and other environment variables, to get this to work properly.

Just like the command-line su command, you are launched into another session, in this case a Tint session, under your new identity. Tint passes on the password to a script, and doesn't keep a copy anywhere.


A new Interrogator window opens, this time as root. The entire display of the root-privileged incarnation is black-to-white reversed, to remind you of your special privileges.

Type w to select the file. Then go to the Edit menu to delete the file, or use a keystroke as before.

You can then continue causing trouble, or you can end the SuperUser session by just quitting. Choose the menu item for Quit or type the equivalent keystroke at any black window.

  X11 MacOS
Quit ^Q cmdQ
get to Host window altH altO ^H ^O
get to Volume window altV altO ^V ^O

Documentation > authority: su and ssh        

                     

T a c t i l e   I n t e r r o g a t o r   W e b s i t e