SELinux in the way of automated rsync

[Paul Howarth]

J.L. Coenders wrote:
> Hi,
> I am trying to automate a backup with rsync to a second disc using a cronjob. 
> I am running fc5. The script works fine when I run it manually, but if I try 
> to run it as a cronjob it fails with a lot of rsync errors.
> When looking at the system logs, I suspect that SELinux is blocking rsync.  
> How do I correct this?
> 
> Messages are like this:
> 
> Aug  1 09:09:43 localhost kernel: audit(1154416183.900:651): avc:  denied  { 
> search } for  pid=19905 comm="rsync" name="/" dev=sda1 ino=2 
> scontext=system_u:system_r:rsync_t:s0 tcontext=system_u:object_r:default_t:s0 
> tclass=dir

That may be a labelling problem on your system.

> Could anyone show me to some easy to understand explanation of SELinux? So far 
> I only find quite complex ones.

SELinux isn't simple, so you're unlikely to find a simple explanation 
for it.

What is the top-level directory you are trying to copy using rsync?

Paul.