Cannot open writeable file or device node, nor read a symlink from a read only filesystem

Solution Verified - Updated -

Issue

  • Can't create folder/document in writeable directory when referenced via symlink
  • Unexpected shell behaviour with a read only filesystem
  • Cannot write to device nodes on a read only filesystem
  • Bind mount of files on read only filesystem does not work
  • Symbolic links on a read only NFS mount cannot be opened
  • Error: Read-only file system
  • EROFS when opening a file on a RO filesystem with O_CREAT|O_RDONLY
  • This particularly affects:
    • regular files
    • symlinks
    • device nodes
    • bind mounts

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.4
    • Kernels earlier than 2.6.32-358.10.1.el6

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