Are there a way to block a program from starting during certain times?












1















I want to prevent a certain program from being started during specific times. Are there a good way of accomplishing this at *nix distros?










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  • My only idea is to create cron jobs that make chmod -x at the beggining and +x at the end of your time period.

    – pbm
    Sep 26 '11 at 17:50











  • It depends what you need to prevent from starting it.

    – David Schwartz
    Sep 26 '11 at 17:59











  • I want to prevent a logged in user at an Ubuntu workstation from starting certain programmes

    – Industrial
    Sep 26 '11 at 18:46






  • 1





    What do you expect to happen if the user obtains a copy of the executable and tries to run it? What if the user gets the source code and compiles the program?

    – Gilles
    Sep 27 '11 at 0:47











  • No idea, but I know that it won't be Linus Torvalds who will be using the computer of which I need to apply this blocking at, so I am pretty sure that no compiling will occur

    – Industrial
    Sep 27 '11 at 10:06


















1















I want to prevent a certain program from being started during specific times. Are there a good way of accomplishing this at *nix distros?










share|improve this question

























  • My only idea is to create cron jobs that make chmod -x at the beggining and +x at the end of your time period.

    – pbm
    Sep 26 '11 at 17:50











  • It depends what you need to prevent from starting it.

    – David Schwartz
    Sep 26 '11 at 17:59











  • I want to prevent a logged in user at an Ubuntu workstation from starting certain programmes

    – Industrial
    Sep 26 '11 at 18:46






  • 1





    What do you expect to happen if the user obtains a copy of the executable and tries to run it? What if the user gets the source code and compiles the program?

    – Gilles
    Sep 27 '11 at 0:47











  • No idea, but I know that it won't be Linus Torvalds who will be using the computer of which I need to apply this blocking at, so I am pretty sure that no compiling will occur

    – Industrial
    Sep 27 '11 at 10:06
















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1








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I want to prevent a certain program from being started during specific times. Are there a good way of accomplishing this at *nix distros?










share|improve this question
















I want to prevent a certain program from being started during specific times. Are there a good way of accomplishing this at *nix distros?







ubuntu gnome






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edited Feb 10 at 19:02









Rui F Ribeiro

40.5k1479137




40.5k1479137










asked Sep 26 '11 at 17:18









IndustrialIndustrial

5812712




5812712













  • My only idea is to create cron jobs that make chmod -x at the beggining and +x at the end of your time period.

    – pbm
    Sep 26 '11 at 17:50











  • It depends what you need to prevent from starting it.

    – David Schwartz
    Sep 26 '11 at 17:59











  • I want to prevent a logged in user at an Ubuntu workstation from starting certain programmes

    – Industrial
    Sep 26 '11 at 18:46






  • 1





    What do you expect to happen if the user obtains a copy of the executable and tries to run it? What if the user gets the source code and compiles the program?

    – Gilles
    Sep 27 '11 at 0:47











  • No idea, but I know that it won't be Linus Torvalds who will be using the computer of which I need to apply this blocking at, so I am pretty sure that no compiling will occur

    – Industrial
    Sep 27 '11 at 10:06





















  • My only idea is to create cron jobs that make chmod -x at the beggining and +x at the end of your time period.

    – pbm
    Sep 26 '11 at 17:50











  • It depends what you need to prevent from starting it.

    – David Schwartz
    Sep 26 '11 at 17:59











  • I want to prevent a logged in user at an Ubuntu workstation from starting certain programmes

    – Industrial
    Sep 26 '11 at 18:46






  • 1





    What do you expect to happen if the user obtains a copy of the executable and tries to run it? What if the user gets the source code and compiles the program?

    – Gilles
    Sep 27 '11 at 0:47











  • No idea, but I know that it won't be Linus Torvalds who will be using the computer of which I need to apply this blocking at, so I am pretty sure that no compiling will occur

    – Industrial
    Sep 27 '11 at 10:06



















My only idea is to create cron jobs that make chmod -x at the beggining and +x at the end of your time period.

– pbm
Sep 26 '11 at 17:50





My only idea is to create cron jobs that make chmod -x at the beggining and +x at the end of your time period.

– pbm
Sep 26 '11 at 17:50













It depends what you need to prevent from starting it.

– David Schwartz
Sep 26 '11 at 17:59





It depends what you need to prevent from starting it.

– David Schwartz
Sep 26 '11 at 17:59













I want to prevent a logged in user at an Ubuntu workstation from starting certain programmes

– Industrial
Sep 26 '11 at 18:46





I want to prevent a logged in user at an Ubuntu workstation from starting certain programmes

– Industrial
Sep 26 '11 at 18:46




1




1





What do you expect to happen if the user obtains a copy of the executable and tries to run it? What if the user gets the source code and compiles the program?

– Gilles
Sep 27 '11 at 0:47





What do you expect to happen if the user obtains a copy of the executable and tries to run it? What if the user gets the source code and compiles the program?

– Gilles
Sep 27 '11 at 0:47













No idea, but I know that it won't be Linus Torvalds who will be using the computer of which I need to apply this blocking at, so I am pretty sure that no compiling will occur

– Industrial
Sep 27 '11 at 10:06







No idea, but I know that it won't be Linus Torvalds who will be using the computer of which I need to apply this blocking at, so I am pretty sure that no compiling will occur

– Industrial
Sep 27 '11 at 10:06












2 Answers
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Have crontab rigged to create or remove a file in /var/lock/, and have the program test for the existence of that file. If the file exists, refuse to run.



Note that this will not keep a determined and intelligent user from simply copying over the program and altering it to ignore the test -- but then again, using a cron-scheduled chmod -x/+x won't deter smart users either...






share|improve this answer































    0














    A cron job to chmod the files to add/remove the execute permission could do this (as pbm's comment suggests).



    Alternatively you could put all these apps (assuming its a small set of well-defined apps) in one directory, and then rename (or remove permissions on the directory) in a cron job.



    Alternatively, you could setup SELinux (or other Linux security solutions?) to whitelist/blacklist applications. I didn't see anything that easily accomplishes from some quick googling, though.






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      2 Answers
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      2 Answers
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      1














      Have crontab rigged to create or remove a file in /var/lock/, and have the program test for the existence of that file. If the file exists, refuse to run.



      Note that this will not keep a determined and intelligent user from simply copying over the program and altering it to ignore the test -- but then again, using a cron-scheduled chmod -x/+x won't deter smart users either...






      share|improve this answer




























        1














        Have crontab rigged to create or remove a file in /var/lock/, and have the program test for the existence of that file. If the file exists, refuse to run.



        Note that this will not keep a determined and intelligent user from simply copying over the program and altering it to ignore the test -- but then again, using a cron-scheduled chmod -x/+x won't deter smart users either...






        share|improve this answer


























          1












          1








          1







          Have crontab rigged to create or remove a file in /var/lock/, and have the program test for the existence of that file. If the file exists, refuse to run.



          Note that this will not keep a determined and intelligent user from simply copying over the program and altering it to ignore the test -- but then again, using a cron-scheduled chmod -x/+x won't deter smart users either...






          share|improve this answer













          Have crontab rigged to create or remove a file in /var/lock/, and have the program test for the existence of that file. If the file exists, refuse to run.



          Note that this will not keep a determined and intelligent user from simply copying over the program and altering it to ignore the test -- but then again, using a cron-scheduled chmod -x/+x won't deter smart users either...







          share|improve this answer












          share|improve this answer



          share|improve this answer










          answered Sep 26 '11 at 19:11









          ShadurShadur

          19.8k74557




          19.8k74557

























              0














              A cron job to chmod the files to add/remove the execute permission could do this (as pbm's comment suggests).



              Alternatively you could put all these apps (assuming its a small set of well-defined apps) in one directory, and then rename (or remove permissions on the directory) in a cron job.



              Alternatively, you could setup SELinux (or other Linux security solutions?) to whitelist/blacklist applications. I didn't see anything that easily accomplishes from some quick googling, though.






              share|improve this answer




























                0














                A cron job to chmod the files to add/remove the execute permission could do this (as pbm's comment suggests).



                Alternatively you could put all these apps (assuming its a small set of well-defined apps) in one directory, and then rename (or remove permissions on the directory) in a cron job.



                Alternatively, you could setup SELinux (or other Linux security solutions?) to whitelist/blacklist applications. I didn't see anything that easily accomplishes from some quick googling, though.






                share|improve this answer


























                  0












                  0








                  0







                  A cron job to chmod the files to add/remove the execute permission could do this (as pbm's comment suggests).



                  Alternatively you could put all these apps (assuming its a small set of well-defined apps) in one directory, and then rename (or remove permissions on the directory) in a cron job.



                  Alternatively, you could setup SELinux (or other Linux security solutions?) to whitelist/blacklist applications. I didn't see anything that easily accomplishes from some quick googling, though.






                  share|improve this answer













                  A cron job to chmod the files to add/remove the execute permission could do this (as pbm's comment suggests).



                  Alternatively you could put all these apps (assuming its a small set of well-defined apps) in one directory, and then rename (or remove permissions on the directory) in a cron job.



                  Alternatively, you could setup SELinux (or other Linux security solutions?) to whitelist/blacklist applications. I didn't see anything that easily accomplishes from some quick googling, though.







                  share|improve this answer












                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer










                  answered Sep 26 '11 at 19:15









                  P.T.P.T.

                  1,2881910




                  1,2881910






























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