RE: Modernization and multi-member files

Not quite, in any other platform, the OS admin has all the authority they need to directly edit the DB
file, since the OS doesn't see the DB as any different than any other stream file.

On i, that's not the case. You can have *ALLOBJ and be an OS admin without having the user ID and
password needed to use service tools.

Charles Wilt
--
Software Engineer
CINTAS Corporation - IT 92B
513.701.1307

wiltc@xxxxxxxxxx

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:midrange-l-
bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Lukas Beeler
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 10:36 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: Modernization and multi-member files

On Thu, Jul 17, 2008 at 3:20 PM, Wilt, Charles <WiltC@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

With the right OS permissions, you can open the file and read/write to

it with any program you want.

Of course the format is pretty complex, but if you're smart enough it

can be done.

Actually, IBM i does have a similar interface that I'm pretty sure

doesn't go through the DB. Service

tools includes a hex editor that allows you to edit most (all?) objects

on the system directly. And

before Dave jumps in, this isn't the same as the hole describe above

since the service tools have

their own set of user IDs and authorities. A standard OS user with

authority to the file would not be

able to use service tools.

And neither would a user with authority to a specific database or
table would have access to the underlying database files. In fact, it
is very unusual that someone who accesses a database has
administrative privileges on the database server itself.

As such, the level of security provided on the i and on any competing
platform is exactly the same. You will need a high set of privileges
to access the extended SST functions for directly modifying storage,
and you will also need a high set of privileges to directly modify
database files on a Windows box.

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