su - user .........No Shell

[dattu_1]

Hi guys,
i am getting no shell message when i am doing su - user .The users default shell is called /abc/rgf/rtf.sh.......its shell mentioned in systems passwd file....

and when i run grep zxw /etc/passwd | od -x
i get 00000...what is this....And when i login throgh his id the window gets closed after entering password..........plz help me its urgent...............

[spex]

dattu,

The user shell listed in /etc/passwd for must be valid, and must appear in /etc/shells.

PCS

[Jaime Bolanos Rojas.]

Dattu,

Those are the shells that you might want to use:

#ll /usr/bin/ksh /usr/bin/sh /usr/bin/csh
-r-xr-xr-x 1 bin bin 155648 Jun 21 2004 /usr/bin/csh
-r-xr-xr-x 2 bin bin 159744 Jul 14 2004 /usr/bin/ksh
-r-xr-xr-x 2 bin bin 204800 Oct 21 2003 /usr/bin/sh

For more information, please refer to this old thread:

http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=1042841

Regards,

Jaime.

[sudhapage]

May you can check with 'pwck' command. It will check and tell what are all the errors you have in /etc/passwd file.

Regards,
Sudhakaran.K

[dattu_1]

hi spex,
Actually i need to access an applicn with help of script /abc/def/Mydef.sh ...And what do u mean by shell is valid or not..please explain.......when the user logs in..he gets an menu....
And reg pwck shows some login directories not found and everything ok.....
grpck gives nothing.........

[spex · Accepted solution]

dattu,

By valid shell, I mean an actual shell--not a shell script. Furthermore, the shell executable must have appropriate ownership/permissions. Examples of valid shells:

# cat /etc/shells
/usr/bin/csh
/usr/bin/ksh
/usr/bin/sh
/sbin/sh

To force a user to use a front-end program:

1) Make sure the user has a valid shell assigned in /etc/passwd (e.g. /usr/bin/sh).

2) Add a reference to the front-end script to ~user/.profile:
exec abc/rgf/rtf.sh
exit

3) Optionally:
# chown root:root ~user/.profile
so that the user cannot make changes.

'exec' replaces the user's current environment with that of and exits once terminates.

PCS

[Carles Viaplana]

Hello,

Check if user has read privileges to .profile and .login files.

Regards,

Carles

[KapilRaj]

Give him a valid shell in the /etc/passwd file. If you need to bring up a menu when he logs in, It can be achieved by a .profile or some tweaking in /etc/profile(not recommended)

Regds,

Kaps

But guys, It should work in any case though it is a shell script right ?.

[dattu_1]

Hi guys,
I think my password file is corrupt....B'coz i have ftp'd this file from the server where the backup was kept..now i am planning to create all users agin through script....Let us see.....I will surely let u know the status..........

[spex]

Kapil,

Technically, you can set a user's shell to a script, as long as the script is +x and has correct ownership. However, this is not recommended.

PCS

[dattu_1]

Hi spex,
Actually i am able to access the shell when using telnet ..but when i try to login through ssh i am not able 2 login....the window just opens and gets killed immediately...............

[KapilRaj]

uhmm that sounds like ssh is not allowing a connection which has a bad shell. Why not try adding (appending) this shell script on /etc/shells and give it a try ?

Regds,

Kaps

[dattu_1]

Hi Kapil,
Actually the scripts entry is already therein /etc/shells......what should be the permission for /etc/shells.......