rhost file, rlogin, remote backup device problem

[Clint Gibler]

Ok, So I have seen the same problem on the forums and found the answer but I am having problems with it. I have system 1 without a tape drive and system 2 with a tape drive. I am using fbackup in SAM to copy some files to the tape drive on sys 2 from sys 1 however it won't let me and according to the other forums I found it is a problem with rlogin and the .rhost file. When I do rlogin it asks for the password. My problem now is where is the .rhost file supposed to be located because I cannot find it on either machine and what do I do to fix my rlogin problem so it doesn't ask me for a password and do I have to make the change to both systems?

[Patrick Wallek · Accepted solution]

A .rhosts file resides in the home directory of a user. In this case it would be root's home directory.

You will need to put a .rhosts file in roots home directory on sys2 with the following contents:

# cat .rhosts
sys1 root

The file permissions should be -rw------- (600) and it should be owned by root.

[Pete Randall]

The .rhosts file is located in the home directory of the invoking user. It only has to be done on one of the systems unless you want to be able to do this in both directions.


Pete

[Clint Gibler]

Maybe this is a dumb question but where is root's home directory because I don't see it under /home is this something I have to set up for root?

[Patrick Wallek]

By default, root's home directory is /

# grep ^root /etc/passwd

and look at the 2nd to last field on the line. That will be the home directory.

[TwoProc]

Clint, if you haven't changed root's home directory - it's located at /.rhost . Since this is such a bad place - make sure that no-one else can read or edit this file. Better yet, consider using ssh instead.

Also, it is possible to change root's home directory (but don't put it on another drive/mount point /home, put it in a directory right on the / drive). Create the directory - (let's say /sysadmin for example) then put all of root's stuff in there (.profile, .gpmxxxx, etc). Then, change root's path to the new subdir, and reboot. Test this process on your test servers first! When done, don't forget to tighten the security on that directory and the files within.