Re: [cobalt-users] Will copying password files work???

["Carrie Bartkowiak" <ravencarrie@xxxxxxxx>]

> PLEASE don't guestion other's answers like that unless you have
tested
> all possible situations and know for sure that doing them as
suggested
> WON'T work.  I know for a fact that Hisham's advise works, on
Cobalts
> and on UNIX systems in general.
>
> Flame away, but I stand solid in my knowledge of UNIX, Linux, and
> Cobalts.

No flaming at all -- just some common sense.
If Glenn is going to use the CMU utility to migrate his sites, or if
he does them by hand and doesn't put the sites/users onto the new
server in the *exact* order in which they exist on the old one, along
with the *exact* features/settings enabled/disabled - then the passwd
and shadow files will be vastly different.

If the RaQ4 has users that the RaQ3 doesn't have - for example, if
he's installed the MySQL package and now has a mysql user - then
copying over the new server's files with the old server's files will
screw things up. In this example, the mysql user would suddenly
disappear from the radar, as its entries in passwd and shadow would be
overwritten/deleted.

I do know for a fact that my method (simply copying the password
itself) works, is safe, and does not delete any users the new machine
may have in place... no matter what differences are between the old
RaQ3 and the new RaQ4.

Can you guarantee Hisham's advice will work, not knowing the
differences between Glenn's two machines?
I don't think you can, there are far too many "ifs" to consider.

I don't need to flaunt my knowledge or lack thereof, I simply rely on
common sense. Besides, I don't have a penis so I can't do any
dick-wagging. *big grin*

CarrieB