Re: Modem IRQs, password & mail problems
On Wed, 27 Nov 2002 09:08:33 +0000, "Karl E. Jorgensen"
<karl@jorgensen.com> wrote:
>On Wed, Nov 27, 2002 at 04:13:06AM +0000, Pigeon wrote:
>> On Tue, 26 Nov 2002 22:35:42 +0000, "Karl E. Jorgensen" <karl@jorgensen.com> wrote:
>>
>> >On Tue, Nov 26, 2002 at 07:42:18PM +0000, Pigeon wrote:
>
>[...]
>
>> > > 2) I have a dead file somewhere that is interfering with some userid
>> > > stuff. Some of my directories give numerical user/group ids instead of
>> > > root or pigeon. exim refuses to start with "can't get user name for
>> > > userid x" errors, so no mail functions work. My /etc/passwd and
>> > > /etc/shadow seem to be OK; they contain the following (and also a
>> > > peculiar gnats/admin entry which I don't understand): (I haven't got
>> > > round to setting up shadow passwords yet)
>> > >
>> > > root:onetwothreefour:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
>> > > pigeon:wedontwantyourbloodywar:1000:1000:Pigeon,,,:/home/pigeon:/bin/bash
>> > > gnats:*:41:41:Gnats Bug-Reporting System
>> > > (admin):/var/lib/gnats/gnats-db:/bin/sh
>
>I should have picked up on this before: my entry for gnats looks like
>this:
> gnats:x:41:41:Gnats Bug-Reporting System (admin):/var/lib/gnats/gnats-db:/bin/sh
>i.e. on one line - it might just have linewrapped in your post, but
>better be sure...
That's cool - it was OK in the original file. Turned out it
linewrapped in the editor when I removed passwords etc. before posting
it.
>> > >
>> > > Any ideas where I should be looking for the fault?
>> >
>> >Basically that number is not found in /etc/passwd ... As a short-term
>> >measure, you can create a new user (adduser --uid xxx --gid yyy) should
>> >buy you time (make sure that this user cannot log in).
>>
>> Sorry. I should have said that x = 0 or 1000, ie. the usernames it
>> can't find are root and pigeon, whose userids ARE in /etc/passwd! I
>> also have a few directories - haven't found any pattern so far - in
>> which ls -l shows 0 or 1000 instead of root or pigeon for the
>> owner/group. Most directories are OK though.
>
>I hope that the directories that are OK are not owned by root or pigeon
>(that would imply an intermittent error. Yuck).
>
>I'm almost out of ideas... What does pwck and grpck say ?
HEY WOW - IT WORKS!! Thanks!
pwck hated my /etc/shadow. This had got screwed in a system crash (my
fault, not Linux's) and I got things working again by copying
/etc/passwd to it. Since nearly everything worked I figured
/etc/shadow had to be OK now! pwck deleted EVERY ENTRY in it and now
everything seems to be working.
whoami works, my screwed directories have come back to normal and I
can send mail to myself. Cool!
Next thing I need is a really good HOWTO etc. on how to get a BASIC
batch-send/receive email setup up and running.
Thanks again,
Pigeon
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