Problem logging on to HP-UX 9000 L2000

[Evella Dawson]

My OS is HP-UX-11 on L2000 box. I have installed Oracle8i(version 8.1.7). I was in the process of creating my second database,when I received a message that I didnot have permssion to the /etc/oratab file. The creation of the database was aborted. I logged off the system. When I tried to log back on via telnet, the following message appeared: no shell,then the system drops the connection. The OS will only allow root to log on. I am the DBA,can you help me. My SA did not know where to look for the answer.

[Joseph C. Denman]

Evella,

Check the permissions on the users home directory. ie /home/oracle

I would bet they are incorrect.

...jcd...

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi:

Have your SA verify that a valid shell is specified for *your* account in /etc/passwd.

The seventh field should be '/usr/bin/sh'.

Regards!

...JRF...

[Joseph C. Denman]

Oh...

To find the home dir

cat /etc/passwd | grep theuser | cut -f6 -d:

...jcd...

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

Hi Evella,

You need to look at /etc/passwd file entry. Ask your SA to see if anything has been changed since then. Sometimes it happens when people mess around with password files manually and a single entry splits into two lines.

Also ask him/her to look at the /home permissions if it is happening to all the users. It should be 755. If it is happening only to you, check your home directory permissions.

One another thing is about the permissions on the shells. /usr/bin/ksh,/usr/bin/sh,/sbin/sh etc.,


-Sri

[Evella Dawson]

The permission for /home/oracle is 775.

verification has been made my account in the /etc/passwd.

It appears that no other user on the system is able to log on. ONLY ROOT is allowed. My SA tried using his account, my account, oracle, etc. All have 775 or 777 permission.

[Joseph C. Denman]

Check the perms on /etc/passwd...should be 444. Also check perms on the shell's...should be 555

Keep us posted.

...jcd...

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi Evella:

Check permissions on /usr and /usr/bin. These directories should be 555.

Regards!

...JRF...

[Joseph C. Denman]

Evella,

Also check /home...should be 755.

...jcd...

[James A. Donovan]

If only root is allowed to login, check for the existance of an /etc/nologin file. If it exists, delete it.

...another thread with some ideas on the topic of locking out all users except root...

http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0x6e7406295e00d6118ff40090279cd0f9,00.html

[Evella Dawson]

I have tried all the senarios, nothing is working. My SA recreate my account. I tried logging on again. The following message appears: no shell
memory fault(coredump)

The core dump is in my home directory.

[Geno Church]

My suggestion would be to check and see if all the users's .profile has been modified. Check to see if anything/anyone may have made modifications to it and correct if needed.

Geno-HP

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi (again) Evella:

Verify that the root directory grants you access. As root, do:

# ls -ld /

...you should see something like:

drwxr-xr-x 27 root root 6144 Jan 17 20:39 /

If the permissions are not as shown, change them appropriately.

Regards!

...JRF...

[Joseph C. Denman]

Evella,

For some reason, you system in not finding the shell. Stated above are the only things that would really cause the error you are receiving. I would double check.

1. perm /etc/passwd ...444
2. perm /usr ...555
3. perm /usr/bin ...555
4. perm /usr/bin/sh ...555
5. perm /usr/bin/ksh ...555

I have also seen funny problems with bad charaters in the /etc/passwd. If all above checks out ok, have the sa move you password entry close to the top of /etc/passwd. Shooting in the dark now????


...jcd...

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

Hi Evella,

Looks like it is permission problems. Ask your SA to look at the permissions of /sbin,/usr/bin directory where the shells reside. Also ask him/her to check the permissions of /, it should be 755.

-Sri

[Evella Dawson]

Thanks to all of you who have responded. I and the rest of the users on the system is unable to logon. We have checked every thing, still no success. All ideas are welcomed.

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi Evella:

OK. Do the shells represented in /etc/passwd specify the 'usr/bin' directory or the transition link, 'bin'? They should be '/usr/bin'.

An 'ls -l /' as root should show (in part):

# lr-xr-xr-t 1 root sys 8 Aug 20 1997 bin -> /usr/bin

and:

lr-xr-xr-t 1 root sys 8 Aug 20 1997 lib -> /usr/lib

...if not, then do:

# /opt/upgrade/bin/tlinstall -v

Regards!

...JRF...

[Joseph C. Denman]

Evella,

Are all the users using the same shell? Is /etc/profile or $HOME/.profile attempting to change the shell? Have you checked to see if the shells entered in /etc/passwd exist?

This has got to be something simple being overlooked.

...jcd...

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

One more permission to check.
-r-sr-xr-x 1 root bin /usr/bin/login

Look at the setuid bit.

-Sri

[Evella Dawson]

1. The shells are specifiel in /usr/bin.
2. My users are using the same shell.
3. the /usr/bin/login is correct.

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

Hi Evella,

You can stop giving points until you get a solution.

Did your SA look at syslog.log to see if anything strange happening?. He/She may atleast get some messages while you are attempting to login.

-Sri

[Joseph C. Denman]

Wow??????? Just grasping at straws now.

All users with same shell? Have you tried assigning a user to a different shell. For example instead of /usr/bin/sh try /usr/bin/ksh

Does this happen when you su - oracle from root, or only when you telnet?

Sorry evella, I'm just attempting to isolate the problem.

...jcd...

[Srinivas Sreekumar]

Also check in your /etc/profile , whether there has been any recent entries. Maybe you can crosscheck with another server.
Srini

[Evella Dawson]

Hello everyone
I have been out of the office for a couple of days. My problem still exist. I welcome any ideas. This problem seems to be somewhat of a mystery.

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

Hi Evella,

Sorry that your problem is still not solved. Did your SA look at syslog.log while someone attempts to login?. He/she can enable the logging by doing an inetd -l.

-Sri