William Sandman III wrote:
I have inherited a SuSE 6.2 box with some interesting account/password problems.
When I add a user using YaST the new user is always given a user ID of 509.
This could be because YaST always uses the next UID after 500 when creating users. If you deleted the user with UID 509, which then leaves 509 unused, YaST would choose that. Of course, if this is happening while UID 509 exists, then that is a Bad Thing...
When I try to change the pasword using passwd or YaST I am told the new user does not exist or in YaST the fields do no populate as expected. Existing
If passwd denies the existence of the user for a while, and then changes its mind, then this could be a problem with nscd using the cached copy of /etc/passwd, etc...
users populate properly and I can change their passwords using passwd with no problem.
It appears that the previous administrator deleted some entries directly fom /etc/shadow and /etc/passwd. The only thing I noticed strange in shadow and passwd were entries in each that were old users that were no longer needed. I thought that mabey these inconsistencies were the problem, so I deleted these unnecessary entries. This was not the problem. /shadow and passwd now agree on the accounts and users that should be on the machine, I can change passwords on existing accounts, and I can add new users. However as I said, I cannot edit the accounts using YaST or passwd
At this point I have no reason to suspect the system to have been compromised, but...
Other than the above, I can't help you, sorry :( Chris -- __ _ -o)/ / (_)__ __ ____ __ Chris Reeves /\\ /__/ / _ \/ // /\ \/ / ICQ# 22219005 _\_v __/_/_//_/\_,_/ /_/\_\ -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/