Cannot exec /usr/bin/false

[Raj Pejathaya]

Hi,
I have a userid that was working fine till recentlty. Now if I try to log into that userid it would just disconnect me. If I go through XDMCP, it logs me in but I cannot open a terminal. If I log is as somebody else and then do a su - over to this user I get the following error Cannot exec /usr/bin/false. DOes anybody know how to fix this problem
Thanks
Raj

[Sridhar Bhaskarla]

Hi,

Looks like the shell for this user is set to /usr/bin/false.

That tells us that this account was configured as ftp-only account. You will need to change the shell to one of the standards shells in order for you to do telnet or su.

ftp will work if /usr/bin/false is listed in /etc/ftpusers file.

-Sri

[Jeroen Peereboom · Accepted solution]

Raj,

* check permission of /usr/bin/false and if necessary change it.
* check your entry in /etc/passwd for the shell specified there.

JP

[Raj Pejathaya]

I got it. In my etc/passwd file, the shell was defined as /usr/bin/false. I changed it to the appropriate shell and it started working.
Thank you both for your help.
Raj

[Jose Mosquera]

Hi,

Pls ensure that "/usr/bin/false" is defined into /etc/shells file. Also /usr/bin/false must have 555 rights and belong to bin:bin.

Rgds.

[Raj Pejathaya]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply
The /usr/bin/false has 555 permissions. There is no file called shells under /etc. My operating system is HPUX11.0

Thanks
Raj