Re: df requires root access to work properly display in amd space

[Bob Proulx]

> My Solaris8-sparc systems use amd for automounting NFS shares. While in
> virtual amd fs space, df complains I have no permission to read the fs
> table. If run as root, I get no complaint. Interestingly enough, bash's
> pwd function also fails if I use the -P option. I have submitted a bashbug
> regarding this as well.

This really seems like a bug in the configuration of your machine.  An
old unix bug that still exists is that the underlying directory used
to mount other directories must be readable and executable or you get
that same behavior.  [It still exists in HP-UX at the very least.]  

Perhaps your machine somehow is suffering from that problem?

> daffy [525] pwd
> /g/nikola/groups/vlsi

pwd is a shell builtin that tracks how you got someplace and does not
actually call the getcwd() routine unless -P is given, as in "pwd -P".

> daffy [526] pwd -P
> bash: pwd: getcwd: cannot access parent directories: Invalid argument
> daffy [527] df .
> df: Warning: cannot read table of mounted filesystems: Permission denied
> Filesystem           1k-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
> -                            0         0         0   -  /g
> daffy [528] sudo df .
> sudo: Can't get working directory!

Note that 'sudo' complains as well.  It is trying to run getcwd().

> Filesystem           1k-blocks      Used Available Use% Mounted on
> daffy:(pid183)               0         0         0   -  /g
> daffy [529]

Surely if three wildly separate and unrelated programs all say the
same thing that points to a system problem and not a program bug?

Bob