How To Enable or Disable SELinux

From the command line, you can edit the /etc/sysconfig/selinux file. This file is a symlink to/etc/selinux/config. The configuration file is self-explanatory. Changing the value of SELINUX orSELINUXTYPE changes the state of SELinux and the name of the policy to be used the next time the system boots.

[root@host2a ~]# cat /etc/sysconfig/selinux
# This file controls the state of SELinux on the system.
# SELINUX= can take one of these three values:
#       enforcing - SELinux security policy is enforced.
#       permissive - SELinux prints warnings instead of enforcing.
#       disabled - SELinux is fully disabled.
SELINUX=permissive
# SELINUXTYPE= type of policy in use. Possible values are:
#       targeted - Only targeted network daemons are protected.
#       strict - Full SELinux protection.
SELINUXTYPE=targeted

# SETLOCALDEFS= Check local definition changes
SETLOCALDEFS=0

Changing the Mode of SELinux Using the GUI

Use the following procedure to change the mode of SELinux using the GUI.

1. On the System menu, point to Administration and then click Security Level and Firewall to display the Security Level Configuration dialog box.
2. Click the SELinux tab.
3. In the SELinux Setting select either Disabled, Enforcing or Permissive, and then click OK.
4. If you changed from Enabled to Disabled or vice versa, you need to restart the machine for the change to take effect.

Changes made using this dialog box are immediately reflected in /etc/sysconfig/selinux.