Re: [cobalt-users] RaQ3i password file LOCKED?

[flash22@xxxxxxx]

On Fri, 23 Feb 2001, Andrew Vernon wrote:

> 
> This is bizzare.
> 
> Today, my RaQ3i started choking on password changes. 
 Attempts to change a password from the web control panel are rebuffed with a
 "password file is locked"
 error message. Changes from the shell fail the same way.
> 
> 
> When I inspected /etc/shadow, I found its permissions set to 400.
>  The root user needs read/write access in order
> to maintain the password list, unless everything
> I've learned about UNIX is wrong.  However, chmod fails with the error,
> "operation not permitted."  Unless there's a solution to this,
> I'm probably going to have to do something nasty like
> clear the file's inode and try replacing the file with a copy.

Not recommended on a running machine unless you have a boot disk handy -/

In anycase 400 is the normal mode for shadow, if root owns it, root can do
whatever wants including chmod'ing it long enough to modify it and then
changing it back afterwards ;0

Make sure you don't have lock files /etc/.pwd.lck or /etc/shadow.lock,
Check if there is in fact a stuck process still holding a lock on it
(fuser /etc/shadow)
check for funky attributes (lsattr /etc/shadow)
if the last one shows weird things , start worrying ;0

gsh