Accidentally executed 'sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /' Ubuntu











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Was trying to change the ownership of a folder but executed this command



root@xyz.com:~# chown -R www-data:www-data /


The entire directory structure under '/' got changed.
Upon realising the mistake I executed this command



root@xyz.com:~# chown -R root:root /


Now I am unable to execute php scripts as apache user. Mysql is unable to find an existing database (shows 'unknown database'). Not sure what else got broken.






php mysql linux ubuntu







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migrated from stackoverflow.com Nov 21 at 6:42


This question came from our site for professional and enthusiast programmers.











  • 3




    You won't be able to fix that system since you have lost all the ownership information of the whole file system content. You might be able to still use parts of the system, but most services will run into issues and trying to fix all that by hand is something you do not really want to start with. So fetch the backups and start from the last point you wrote the backup.
    – arkascha
    Nov 21 at 6:24






  • 1




    unix.stackexchange.com/questions/48845/…
    – caramba
    Nov 21 at 6:25










  • there are no accidents with sudo. You were just subconsciously ready to rebuild this system from scratch. ;)
    – mnmnc
    Nov 21 at 8:13















up vote
0
down vote

favorite












Was trying to change the ownership of a folder but executed this command



root@xyz.com:~# chown -R www-data:www-data /


The entire directory structure under '/' got changed.
Upon realising the mistake I executed this command



root@xyz.com:~# chown -R root:root /


Now I am unable to execute php scripts as apache user. Mysql is unable to find an existing database (shows 'unknown database'). Not sure what else got broken.






php mysql linux ubuntu







share|improve this question















migrated from stackoverflow.com Nov 21 at 6:42


This question came from our site for professional and enthusiast programmers.











  • 3




    You won't be able to fix that system since you have lost all the ownership information of the whole file system content. You might be able to still use parts of the system, but most services will run into issues and trying to fix all that by hand is something you do not really want to start with. So fetch the backups and start from the last point you wrote the backup.
    – arkascha
    Nov 21 at 6:24






  • 1




    unix.stackexchange.com/questions/48845/…
    – caramba
    Nov 21 at 6:25










  • there are no accidents with sudo. You were just subconsciously ready to rebuild this system from scratch. ;)
    – mnmnc
    Nov 21 at 8:13













up vote
0
down vote

favorite









up vote
0
down vote

favorite











Was trying to change the ownership of a folder but executed this command



root@xyz.com:~# chown -R www-data:www-data /


The entire directory structure under '/' got changed.
Upon realising the mistake I executed this command



root@xyz.com:~# chown -R root:root /


Now I am unable to execute php scripts as apache user. Mysql is unable to find an existing database (shows 'unknown database'). Not sure what else got broken.






php mysql linux ubuntu







share|improve this question















Was trying to change the ownership of a folder but executed this command



root@xyz.com:~# chown -R www-data:www-data /


The entire directory structure under '/' got changed.
Upon realising the mistake I executed this command



root@xyz.com:~# chown -R root:root /


Now I am unable to execute php scripts as apache user. Mysql is unable to find an existing database (shows 'unknown database'). Not sure what else got broken.






php mysql linux ubuntu




php mysql linux ubuntu






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited Nov 21 at 7:55









Run5k

10.5k72749




10.5k72749










asked Nov 21 at 6:20







kashif siddiq











migrated from stackoverflow.com Nov 21 at 6:42


This question came from our site for professional and enthusiast programmers.






migrated from stackoverflow.com Nov 21 at 6:42


This question came from our site for professional and enthusiast programmers.










  • 3




    You won't be able to fix that system since you have lost all the ownership information of the whole file system content. You might be able to still use parts of the system, but most services will run into issues and trying to fix all that by hand is something you do not really want to start with. So fetch the backups and start from the last point you wrote the backup.
    – arkascha
    Nov 21 at 6:24






  • 1




    unix.stackexchange.com/questions/48845/…
    – caramba
    Nov 21 at 6:25










  • there are no accidents with sudo. You were just subconsciously ready to rebuild this system from scratch. ;)
    – mnmnc
    Nov 21 at 8:13














  • 3




    You won't be able to fix that system since you have lost all the ownership information of the whole file system content. You might be able to still use parts of the system, but most services will run into issues and trying to fix all that by hand is something you do not really want to start with. So fetch the backups and start from the last point you wrote the backup.
    – arkascha
    Nov 21 at 6:24






  • 1




    unix.stackexchange.com/questions/48845/…
    – caramba
    Nov 21 at 6:25










  • there are no accidents with sudo. You were just subconsciously ready to rebuild this system from scratch. ;)
    – mnmnc
    Nov 21 at 8:13








3




3




You won't be able to fix that system since you have lost all the ownership information of the whole file system content. You might be able to still use parts of the system, but most services will run into issues and trying to fix all that by hand is something you do not really want to start with. So fetch the backups and start from the last point you wrote the backup.
– arkascha
Nov 21 at 6:24




You won't be able to fix that system since you have lost all the ownership information of the whole file system content. You might be able to still use parts of the system, but most services will run into issues and trying to fix all that by hand is something you do not really want to start with. So fetch the backups and start from the last point you wrote the backup.
– arkascha
Nov 21 at 6:24




1




1




unix.stackexchange.com/questions/48845/…
– caramba
Nov 21 at 6:25




unix.stackexchange.com/questions/48845/…
– caramba
Nov 21 at 6:25












there are no accidents with sudo. You were just subconsciously ready to rebuild this system from scratch. ;)
– mnmnc
Nov 21 at 8:13




there are no accidents with sudo. You were just subconsciously ready to rebuild this system from scratch. ;)
– mnmnc
Nov 21 at 8:13















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