user ftp restricted & timezone METDST

[Gabriele FACCHINI]

Hi guys I have many restricted ftp user like this:
ftp_spe::xxx:yyy:FTP user:/app/a_spe/./.:/usr/bin/false
and after the change hour, appened sunday 28/03/2004 (2.00 became 3.00), this user don't see the correct creation/acces time of a files or dirs, es: if a file was created at 14.00 they see 13.00.
Can you help me?Thanks
Facchini Gabriele

[Steven E. Protter]

I suppose if the user connected before the time zone switch and remained on after that, there could be a little confusion, possibly a bug somewehre.

I would think that disconnecting all users at time change and forcing a reconnect should solve this issue.

I would make sure my ftpd server is fully patched and my system is patched.

I would also consider connecting my server to a valid ntp time source so it stays on the correct time.

This looks like a bug or perhaps a file that was created during those few milliseconds the clock was switching times.

SEP

[john korterman]

Hi,
is it only a problem for one single ftp user? If it is a problem for all the ftp users then I have a theory - if not, you might as well stop reading further...

But if it goes for all ftp users, the reason could be located somewhere else. An ftp user does not login as a normal user, hence no settings from startup files, e.g. .profile are read. An ftp user gets his TZ setting from the system default, etc/TIMEZONE. The reason why the ftp users' time on files differs from other users' could then be that the other users have their own TZ setting in their login sequence. It may sound far-fetched, but if you create a new user without any kind of TZ setting in the startup files, does he then see the same file stamps as the ftp users?

regards,
John K.

[Gabriele FACCHINI]

Thanks for your replay.
This problem is common to all restricted ftp users. This user don't have a shell [/usr/bin/false] and the problem persist if the user close and reopen a new conection.
Perhaps this user during the autentication don't inherit the timezone.

[Fabio Ettore]

Ciao Gabriele,

what is the output of

# echo $TZ

?

It should be MET-1METDST.

If it is not then change it into /etc/TIMEZONE file.

HTH.

Best regards,
Ettore

[Gabriele FACCHINI]

Hi Ettore, on ftp session don't exist the command echo.
Thanks.

[Fabio Ettore]

Ciao di nuovo Gabriele,

if you login as root into system and launch

# echo $TZ

what does it obtain?
As John said ftp user should take TZ setting from system default. Then if system default has a wronged TIMEZONE it will reflect all users.
Just a thought...

Best regards,
Ettore

Best regards,
Ettore

[john korterman]

Hi,
it sounds as if the ftp users use the /etc/TIMEZONE definition and other users do not. Try doing as Ettore suggests and then execute the date command.
Then execute the commands in /etc/TIMEZONES in the same shell. And then execute the date command again - my guess is that the date command will now show the same time as the ftp users see. Is that correct?

regards,
John K.

[Gabriele FACCHINI]

Hi guys this the output of the command launched as root:
date
Thu Apr 1 08:34:31 METDST 2004
cat /etc/TIMEZONE
TZ=MET-1METDST
export TZ
echo $TZ
MET-1METDST

[john korterman]

Hi again,
it looks as if your "normal" users have some TZ setup in their .profile or elsewhere, hence the "METDST" in the posted date command.
I probably did not explain clearly enough the test I wanted you to perform, namely first login as a regular user, e.g. root, as you have done and then execute date.
Then try and execute the two commands in your /etc/TIMEZONE file, e.g.:
# TZ=MET-1METDST
# export TZ
and then again:
# date
which will probably display the time that yout ftpusers see (one hour earlier). If that is the case then the default setting is not correct. Do the two date commands show different results?

regards,
John K.

[Elmar P. Kolkman]

You could try adding a TIMEZONE file to the etc directory in the restricted ftp users, since the have a chrooted environment and thus cannot access the real /etc... I haven't tested this, but it sounds logical (at least to me).

[Gabriele FACCHINI]

John users don't have any settings of timezone in .profile files.
I don't understand what test i can do for this restricted users.
Thanks

[Gabriele FACCHINI]

Elmar I done what you suggest to me but it don't work, perhaps because this restricted ftp users have /usr/bin/false like shell....
Thanks
Gabriele

[Fabio Ettore]

Buongiorno Gabriele,

here the solution:

# cp /usr/lib/tztab /app/a_spe/usr/lib

It is needed to copy tztab in the home directory of ftp anonymous user.

I saw this into the following thread:

http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=138820

I had your same problem on a my system and I solved with the command above.

I hope this helps you too.

Ciao.
Ettore

[Gabriele FACCHINI]

thanks for your help.
Facchini Gabriele