I can't make any edits in my etc folder

Question

Every time I try to edit a file in /etc I get "access denied".

I tried using different text editors and nautilus and I couldn't save or change any files there.

I don't understand. Am I not supposed to have this access?

What do I do now?

ONLY edit files in /etcif you know what you are doing. Files are quite sensitive in there. — Jacob Vlijm, Apr 27 '14 at 12:34

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 07:55

2

Make sure you have root privilege.

Try:

sudo -H gedit /etc/file.txt

edited May 23 '17 at 07:55

Zanna

answered Apr 27 '14 at 12:28

Saad

i made myself root, and do i have to install gedit – user274143 Apr 27 '14 at 15:20
i dd and it is workin – user274143 Apr 27 '14 at 15:27
"i made myself root" - So you are doing all your work as a user with root privileges? That's a really bad idea, you should su root if you need root access. – sknt May 23 '17 at 08:05

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 27 '14 at 12:41

0

You can have root access with the command

gksu nautilus

This gives you a GUI access of the files in root.But be careful with what you change in there.

answered Apr 27 '14 at 12:41

ganezdragon

gksu provided me with a warning that.. (gksu:4370): Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display – user274143 Apr 27 '14 at 15:21
You are probably running this command as root, and root probably doesn't have an active desktop session. – sknt May 23 '17 at 08:07

2 Answers2