Zsh locking failed for root zsh_history read only file system

i have dual booted kali linux 2025 with windows 10…everything was going smooth until this error comes after 15 days…

What is the error:zsh locking failed for root zsh_history read only file system

What device is this on: hp laptop amd64

For some reason the file system is read only, which mean it tries to write to anything on the disk it gets permission denied.

Can you post the output of the mount command?

hey denartha…
thank you for taking this issue in hand…
here is the output of mount command…

sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
udev on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,nosuid,relatime,size=3458272k,nr_inodes=864568,mode=755,inode64)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,nosuid,noexec,relatime,gid=5,mode=600,ptmxmode=000)
tmpfs on /run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,size=705008k,mode=755,inode64)
/dev/sda8 on / type ext4 (rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro)
securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,inode64)
cgroup2 on /sys/fs/cgroup type cgroup2 (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nsdelegate,memory_recursiveprot)
pstore on /sys/fs/pstore type pstore (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
efivarfs on /sys/firmware/efi/efivars type efivarfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
bpf on /sys/fs/bpf type bpf (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,mode=700)
systemd-1 on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type autofs (rw,relatime,fd=40,pgrp=1,timeout=0,minproto=5,maxproto=5,direct,pipe_ino=2886)
debugfs on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
mqueue on /dev/mqueue type mqueue (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
hugetlbfs on /dev/hugepages type hugetlbfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,pagesize=2M)
tmpfs on /run/lock type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,size=5120k,inode64)
tmpfs on /run/credentials/systemd-journald.service type tmpfs (ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nosymfollow,size=1024k,nr_inodes=1024,mode=700,inode64,noswap)
tracefs on /sys/kernel/tracing type tracefs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
fusectl on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
configfs on /sys/kernel/config type configfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tmpfs on /tmp type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,size=3525024k,nr_inodes=1048576,inode64)
/dev/sda7 on /boot/efi type vfat (rw,relatime,fmask=0077,dmask=0077,codepage=437,iocharset=ascii,shortname=mixed,utf8,errors=remount-ro)
binfmt_misc on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
sunrpc on /run/rpc_pipefs type rpc_pipefs (rw,relatime)
tmpfs on /run/credentials/[email protected] type tmpfs (ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nosymfollow,size=1024k,nr_inodes=1024,mode=700,inode64,noswap)
tmpfs on /run/user/1000 type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,size=705004k,nr_inodes=176251,mode=700,uid=1000,gid=1000,inode64)
gvfsd-fuse on /run/user/1000/gvfs type fuse.gvfsd-fuse (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=1000,group_id=1000)
portal on /run/user/1000/doc type fuse.portal (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=1000,group_id=1000)

hi denartha…
what is the issue..? how should i fix that now..?

What happens when you run:

sudo mount -o remount,rw /

The upper command will not harm my system na denartha..? cause im doing penetration testing course…im scared to do any harm to Kali Linux…

While you should never run commands on your system when you don’t know what they do, this command is pretty much self explanatory.

It will remount your root partition (/) as rewrite (rw). That way you should not get the read only file system error any more.

While I commend you on your Pen testing course, as a pen tester, being scared to break Kali is like a surgeon saying he’s afraid of getting blood an his new shiny scalpels.

If you do break your kali install, and you will, doing a reinstall is quick and easy.

hi denartha…
you must have seen from the mount command that i have installed kali linux many times…but this time im in love with kali and very passionate about it…yes you are right but what we love…we humans are still to be scared of to do any harm to whom we love…thats my issue …i love my kali and im scared of to do any harm to my system… okay denartha here is the output of your command -

sudo mount -o remount,rw /

─# mount | grep ‘/’
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
udev on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,nosuid,relatime,size=3458272k,nr_inodes=864568,mode=755,inode64)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,nosuid,noexec,relatime,gid=5,mode=600,ptmxmode=000)
tmpfs on /run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,size=705008k,mode=755,inode64)
/dev/sda8 on / type ext4 (rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro)
securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,inode64)
cgroup2 on /sys/fs/cgroup type cgroup2 (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nsdelegate,memory_recursiveprot)
pstore on /sys/fs/pstore type pstore (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
efivarfs on /sys/firmware/efi/efivars type efivarfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
bpf on /sys/fs/bpf type bpf (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,mode=700)
systemd-1 on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type autofs (rw,relatime,fd=40,pgrp=1,timeout=0,minproto=5,maxproto=5,direct,pipe_ino=5747)
debugfs on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
hugetlbfs on /dev/hugepages type hugetlbfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,pagesize=2M)
mqueue on /dev/mqueue type mqueue (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tracefs on /sys/kernel/tracing type tracefs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tmpfs on /run/lock type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,size=5120k,inode64)
tmpfs on /run/credentials/systemd-journald.service type tmpfs (ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nosymfollow,size=1024k,nr_inodes=1024,mode=700,inode64,noswap)
fusectl on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
configfs on /sys/kernel/config type configfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tmpfs on /tmp type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,size=3525024k,nr_inodes=1048576,inode64)
/dev/sda7 on /boot/efi type vfat (rw,relatime,fmask=0077,dmask=0077,codepage=437,iocharset=ascii,shortname=mixed,utf8,errors=remount-ro)
binfmt_misc on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
sunrpc on /run/rpc_pipefs type rpc_pipefs (rw,relatime)
tmpfs on /run/credentials/[email protected] type tmpfs (ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nosymfollow,size=1024k,nr_inodes=1024,mode=700,inode64,noswap)
tmpfs on /run/user/1000 type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,size=705004k,nr_inodes=176251,mode=700,uid=1000,gid=1000,inode64)
gvfsd-fuse on /run/user/1000/gvfs type fuse.gvfsd-fuse (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=1000,group_id=1000)
portal on /root/.cache/doc type fuse.portal (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=0,group_id=0)
gvfsd-fuse on /root/.gvfs type fuse.gvfsd-fuse (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=0,group_id=0)

In your home directory, what happens if you now do:

touch test1

it created a new file test1…

So your system is not read only any more.

In the words of Dr McCoy, “The operation was a success”.

thank you so much denartha…im so much happy with full of joy…you made it denartha…