passwd file problem

[Sandeep_2]

Hi Admins,

I have HP-UX v11.00, 64bit server. On this, I am unable to add users if I try to add using sam, it says "/etc/passwd file busy try at some other time". I am sure that nobody else is editing passwd file.
Also if I say vipw, then it comes out saying
"lockf: Lockf deadlock detection
vipw: Cannot obtain lock for /etc/ptmp"
I have removed /etc/ptmp file but still the same problem appears.
Can someone have any idea , what could be the problem.

Thanks,
Sandeep

[Alex Glennie]

try : touch /etc/.pwd.lock
chmod 400 /etc/.pwd.lock
chown root:sys /etc/.pwd.lock .... ?

[Sandeep_2]

Alex,

I have tried that still the problem persists.
Is that something to do with locking mechanism. If yes, then how to detect that condition & how to clear lock on /etc/passwd.


Thanks,
Sandeep.

[Ian_4]

? ps -ef | grep chfn -The chfn (change
user information in password file)

? Kill the chfn process
? Test it

Hope this helps,
Ian

[Sandeep_2]

Hi,

I don't find any chfn process on the server.

Thanks,
Sandeep.

[Ian_4]

Hemm, Do you have a file called /etc/passwd.tmp ? If so delete it and try again.

[James A. Donovan]

There is a utility called lsof (LiSt of Open Files) which can tell you what if any process is holding the passwd file. You can get a copy of lsof that has been compiled for HP-UX 11.00 64-bit via anonymous FTP at ftp://coast.cs.purdue.edu/pub/tools/unix/sysutils/lsof/binaries/hpux

There are many different flavors there, so just choose the one appropriate for your machine.

[Rita C Workman]

OK..you get lockf deadlock detection because to processes are competing for exclusive rights to the same file.
But, your not sure who has the other process. Well, depending on your O/S and how many disks you have it on. You probably know the address of the disk that etc is on. On my box it's the o/s primary disk. So you can use this to check for processes running on it.
Try some variations-check manpage fuser.

fuser -u /dev/dsk/c_t_d_
fuser -u /

Your looking for who's got this file and then you can use the -k option to do a sigkill to the process.

Just a thought,