Root only has read permission for /etc/ssh/sshd_config?

I'm trying to edit my /etc/ssh/sshd_config file as per these instructions to properly set up git on my Synology NAS: http://www.wonko.de/2010/04/set-up-git-on-synology-nas.html (step 6)

However, when I tried to save the modified sshd_config file while logged in as root, I got the following error:

"/etc/ssh/sshd_config" File is read only

When I typed in "ls -l /etc/ssh/sshd_config" I got:

--rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3745 May 27 06:32 /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Does anyone know how I can change these permissions so they're read/write for root?

Solution 1:

lsattr will give you something like this

$:/etc/ssh# lsattr sshd_config
s---ia------------- sshd_config

from "man chattr"

A file with the ‘a’ attribute set can only be open in append mode for writing. Only the superuser or a process possessing the CAP_LINUX_IMMUTABLE capability can set or clear this attribute.

A file with the ‘i’ attribute cannot be modified: it cannot be deleted or renamed, no link can be created to this file and no data can be written to the file. Only the superuser or a process possessing the CAP_LINUX_IMMUTABLE capability can set or clear this attribute.

chattr -ia sshd_config

does the job

Solution 2:

I believe what Bruno was suggesting was that you might not be root. Compare the results of the "who" command with the output of "id".

If you are root, you should be able to happily chmod the write flag (u+w) (with a blessing too):

 /etc/ssh/sshd_config
     Contains configuration data for sshd.  This file should be
     writable by root only, but it is recommended (though not neces-
     sary) that it be world-readable.

Solution 3:

Ok, I found a workaround, but I have no idea why I had to do it in the first place (if someone can clarify this, that would be enlightening!)

I reset the permissions using:

chown -R root.users /etc/ssh/sshd_config

And I was able to write again while logged in as root.