topic Re: Can not login as root remotely and in the console/server in Operating System - HP-UX

Can not login as root remotely and in the console/server

monster00 — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 05:06:42 GMT

I can't login as root remotely and on server. when i try to login as a different user, it is successful but when i tried root and key in the passwd - (su - root) it says su: no shell

what to do? please help!

Re: Can not login as root remotely and in the console/server

Suraj K Sankari — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 05:11:33 GMT

Hi,

Do you have any root equivalents user on your system? If yes then login with that user

Suraj

Re: Can not login as root remotely and in the console/server

monster00 — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 05:51:16 GMT

nothing

Re: Can not login as root remotely and in the console/server

Kapil Jha — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:09:41 GMT

Just check is you have correct entried in /etc/securetty
and if in root passwd if you have special character use "\" before it.
eg if passwd is abc!@#
enter abc\!\@\#
WOuld help I suppose.

BR,
Kapil+

Re: Can not login as root remotely and in the console/server

Bart Paulusse — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:11:44 GMT

when you do a cat /etc/passwd is the default shell for user root still valid?
The su: No shell message means that su can't find the default shell mentioned in the passwd file.

If the default shell for user root points to a non existing file, try to create a link there that points to an existing shell.
The fix the passwd file and remove the link.
If /sbin/sh (usualy root's default shell) is gone, you may be getting more issues. That shouln;t "dissapear"

regards,

Bart

Re: Can not login as root remotely and in the console/server

monster00 — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:13:46 GMT

i have not /etc/securetty file.

Re: Can not login as root remotely and in the console/server

monster00 — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:14:36 GMT

root:F/RO/8Au5Hd16:0:3::/:/sbin/sh

Re: Can not login as root remotely and in the console/server

Bart Paulusse — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:29:15 GMT

What does "ls -l /sbin/sh" return?

Re: Can not login as root remotely and in the console/server

monster00 — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:29:58 GMT

-r-xr-xr-x 1 bin bin 1402088 Feb 16 2007 /sbin/sh

Re: Can not login as root remotely and in the console/server

monster00 — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:31:02 GMT

this is what it display

$ su - root
Password:
su: No shell
$

Re: Can not login as root remotely and in the console/server

Bart Paulusse — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:33:28 GMT

What happens when you start /sbin/sh
Does that return any errors?

Re: Can not login as root remotely and in the console/server

Bart Paulusse — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:41:49 GMT

Is /sbin/sh listed in file /etc/shells ?

Re: Can not login as root remotely and in the console/server

monster00 — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:48:31 GMT

is it like exec /sbin/sh ??

Re: Can not login as root remotely and in the console/server

monster00 — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:52:03 GMT

dont have /etc/shells

Re: Can not login as root remotely and in the console/server

Bart Paulusse — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 07:10:13 GMT

Try to start /shin/sh by just entering /sbin/sh
Create file /etc/shells with contents:
/sbin/sh
/usr/bin/sh
/usr/bin/rsh
/usr/bin/ksh
/usr/bin/rksh
/usr/bin/csh
/usr/bin/keysh

this is the same list of valid shells the system wil use if no /etc/shells file is present but it can't hurt to try...

Have you setup sudo on your system?
If yes, try to sudo vi /etc/passwd, change root's shell to the one that is working for your current user. When you can su to root then, run a "swverify \*"

Remember to set root's shell back to /sbin/sh this is very important!

Re: Can not login as root remotely and in the console/server

monster00 — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 07:15:08 GMT

can't create /etc/shells coz its not root..
can't write under /etc

haven't set up sudo...

Re: Can not login as root remotely and in the console/server

Suraj K Sankari — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 07:24:34 GMT

Hi,

Don't you have console access ?
If not ask some one to create that file (/etc/shell) who is access to console.

Suraj

Re: Can not login as root remotely and in the console/server

monster00 — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 07:29:17 GMT

i think not.. only the root has an access right.. so does it mean i have to reinstall the OS?

Re: Can not login as root remotely and in the console/server

Robert-Jan Goossens — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 07:30:44 GMT

could you post the output of

# file /sbin/sh
# file /usr/bin/sh

Regards,
Robert-Jan

Re: Can not login as root remotely and in the console/server

monster00 — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 07:33:44 GMT

$ file /sbin/sh
/sbin/sh: ELF-32 executable object file - IA64
$ file /usr/bin/sh
/usr/bin/sh: ELF-32 executable object file - IA64

thanks