ptmp

[John McWilliams]

I am changing the password aging to 56 days by running the following on a D220 HP-UX 10.20 -

for NAME in `cat file`
do
passwd -x 56 $NAME
done

file contains a list of names to change.
I get the following message about half way through

Temporary file busy; try again later for /etc/ptmp

What causes this and what is the fix ?

Regards john

[James R. Ferguson · Accepted solution]

John:

The temporary password file /etc/ptmp is present and should be removed. This will allow you to continue.

You might try adding a small sleep interval within your loop (sleep 1). This may help prevent, or reduce, the frequency of this condition.

...JRF...

[James R. Ferguson]

John:

One other note. The /etc/ptmp file is a lock denoting the the /etc/passwd file is undergoing change. Don't remove it unless the "busy" error persists and you know that no one else is doing maintenance on the password file.

...JRF...

[John McWilliams]

Thanks James for your answer. I had to remove the ptmp file and then I put the sleep command in. It is a litte slow as there is about 300 users but it is working not.
Regards John