Without going into a lengthy discussion as to why this may be a bad idea – sometimes you just need to do it! Some of the earlier distributions to include selinux could literally tick you off with constant SE Linux security warnings, pollute the logs with them, render certain apps unusable. I myself remember several time selinux constant warnings driving me crazy and at some point one just says “Ok, how do I disable this selinux stuff?”

So…

For all ya bad, bad, undisciplined folk out there who just want to be able use their systems “like before” 🙂

How to disable SE Linux

First decide whether you want to disable SELinux temporarily (e.g. to debug a problem), or to switch it off permanently. With the first approach SE Linux will be up and running again after you reboot.

Next decide whether you want to make SE Linux allow all operations but still log warnings and keep track of file labels in the background (“Permissive” mode), OR completely turn it OFF (“Disabled”).

ATTENTION: Switching SELinux off if your computer is connected to a public network (directly connected to the Internet) is NOT recommended!

In theory, a better approach is to make changes to the app policy to permit the operations that are being blocked – but this requires knowledge of writing policies and may be a steep learning curve for some people. We will NOT discuss here this approach (changing the policies). We will look at the two methods of disabling SE Linux globally.

1. Method one – switch SELinux into “Permissive” mode

This will switch the SELinux kernel into a mode where all operations are allowed, but a warning message will be logged for any operation that would otherwise be denied. The mechanism that controls the permissions/policies of the files is still active and if at some future time you decide to re-enable SE Linux it can easily be done.

2. Method two – “Disable” SELinux completely