33.17 Unknown Users as File Owners

In an NSS volume, a file’s owner is the user who created it. The Novell trustee model for file systems is used to control access to files, so ownership is a consideration only when enforcing user quotas.

Ownership is tracked with the user’s GUID, not the username. If the username ever becomes invalid (such as if the user is deleted from the system), the file continues to be charged to that user’s GUID. In a space usage report, the value of the GUID appears in place of where the a valid username would normally be. There is no limit on the space that can be associated with unknown users. Authorized users can continue to use the files without interruption or incident.

For the user space quota, the total disk space used by the file continues to be associated with the file’s assigned owner’s GUID. User quotas can be enforced only for valid users.You must change the file’s owner to a valid user if you want the files to be included in that user’s quota.

An administrator or administrator equivalent user can assign a new owner when necessary. Changing file ownership requires the Supervisor right for the file’s parent directory and the file. Use whatever tools you normally use to modify the file’s ownership.