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

["Hisham Al Saad" <ahisham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Carrie,

As per Glenn's original question :

I'm migrating users and sites from a RaQ3 to a RaQ4. Will copying the
/etc/passwd and /etc/shadow files allow me to retain my users passwords
without my having to know them all???

It did not have all the assumptions you provided that if some packages might
be installed like MySQL . It was specific  about retaining users passwords
on the new RaQ4r.
My answer was specifically for that question assuming that he did the rest
of his homework. And yes I did  users/passwords migration between different
Unix OSs in real live and it works.

As much details the question gives as much details the answer can provide !!

Hisham

----- Original Message -----
From: "Carrie Bartkowiak" <ravencarrie@xxxxxxxx>
To: <cobalt-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2001 9:16 AM
Subject: Re: [cobalt-users] Will copying password files work???


> > 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
>
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