Can't run talk daemon

[juno2]

I have newly install the rh9 linux , now I run the "talk" function , then it pop up the messages " -------------[ Error on read from talk daemon: Connection refused ]------------- " , can advise what is wrong in my system ? thx.

[Caesar_3]

Hello!

Check if the talk deamon running in your sys.
ps aux | grep talk
Check the talk configurations.

Caesar

[juno2]

thx reply , the daemon is not start , how to start manually ? thx.

[juno2]

I can't find the talkd on my system , how to start this daemon ? thx

[Balaji N]

talkd is generally started using xientd.

chkconfig talk --list

and then

chkconfig talk on

to enable it.

and then try running talk.

-balaji

[juno2]

thx Bal,

when i run chkconfig talk on , then pop up "error reading information on service talk: No such file or directory" , how to solve ? thx

[juno2]

but I find the command /usr/bin/talk on my system , what is wrong in my system ? thx.

[Claudio Cilloni · Accepted solution]

/usr/bin/talk is only the client for the 'talk' service. make sure that the talk server is installed:

# rpm -qa | grep talk

this should show a line like 'talk-server-xx.xx'
if it isn't so, you can installed it from redhat cd.

then probably you should enable the talk service
in the file /etc/xinetd.d/talk, changing
the line 'disable = yes' in 'disable = no'.
after this, restart the xinetd demon running:

# service xinetd restart

I hope this is enough to get this service running...

hi
Claudio

[Steven E. Protter]

This pretty much outdated little chat service will work between users on the Red Hat box who are logged in and have the appropriate environment variables set.

In ten years of Unix Administration, we've never needed to turn it on.

I'm sure its just the daemon configuration.

SEP

[Caesar_3]

Hi,

You maybe not installed the package of talk
when you installed your RH.
Check for talk in rpm db:
rpm -qa | grep talk
If not installed install it:
rpm -pi .rpm

Check in the /etc/xinet.d/talk
the configs for the talk
Then it should work.

Caesar

[Caesar_3]

Hi again,

If you say that people helping you show
it with giving points for the answers!

Caesar

[Steven E. Protter]

Caesar:

juno2's profile
http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/UserProfile/1,,CA908664!1,00.html

79 of 363

Yours:

http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/UserProfile/1,,CA978925!1,00.html

6 of 17

Neither of those pointing averages is up to standards.

According to procura if you post an answer in itrc there is a 55% chance you will get assigned points.

Zero points is an option if you think the answer had no value.

Just a suggestion prior to asking others to assign.

I see you have 214 points as of this moment. Soon you will be wearing a hat(250 points).

I look forward to it and seeing your pointing average at or above 100%.

Shabbat Shalom.

Be well.

SEP

[juno2]

I check the following :

[root@edp xinetd.d]# rpm -qa | grep talk
talk-0.17-20

the talk is installed.

but no talk file on the dir /etc/xinetd.d/ and no talkd on /usr/sbin, what can i do ? thx

[Steven E. Protter]

juno2.

Remove the app with rpm,

Reinstall it from the Linux CD's if its on there.

You can try and download from redhat and install from there, but I've had much better luck with the downloaded cd's I've created with putting something in that didn't install right.

SEP

[juno2]

thx steven ,

but i want to have newer version of program so I prefer to use this program .

but why there is no talkd on my system after install it? thx

[Stuart Browne]

Claudio was right on the money.

Yes, you have the 'talk client' installed, but not the 'talk server'.

If you 'rpm -q talk-server', you should see something along the lines of 'talk-server-0.17-20'.

If you do not, then you'll need to grab your RH9 CD's (or download the current eratta version of it - I don't beleive there is one however), and install the "Server Package" first ('rpm -ivh talk-server-*.rpm' would be the command).

Once you've installed the package, you need to enable it with the simple command:

chkconfig talk on

After that, assuming your firewall isn't blocking UDP 517 (or 518) to/from your loop-back interface (localhost), you should be able to 'talk ' freely.

I do have to agree with SEP though in that after many (MANY!) years of system administration, better methods exist for talking to other TTY's (the major one being the telephone).

[juno2]

thx much r suggestion , it is ok to install the talk server , sorry to my ignorance , how to restart the service ? thx

[juno2]

i tried to start the service , but pop the below message ,

[root@edp sbin]# /usr/sbin/in.ntalkd start
Socket operation on non-socket[root@edp sbin]#

can suggest how to fix ? thx.

[juno2]

hi all ,

the talk service is on now

[root@edp root]# chkconfig talk --list
talk on

[juno2]

i tried run /etc/rc.d/init.d/xinetd restart , but still can't run talk , can suggest ? thx

[Steven E. Protter]

the ntalk config file in

/etc/xinetd.d


service ntalk
{
disable = yes
socket_type = dgram
wait = yes
user = nobody
group = tty
server = /usr/sbin/in.ntalkd
}


My disable is set to yes, because I don't use it.

Set diable to no and then restart the xinetd daemon.

SEP

[Stuart Browne]

The talk daemon is a service that is launched from xinetd.

To see if it is listening, you use:

netstat -nulp | grep xinetd

and look for something listening on port 518 (it will look like 'udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:518 0.0.0.0:* .../xinetd', give or take some spaces).

You will *NOT* see a 'talkd' process unless you are connected to a 'talk' session at that moment.

There is no need to restart 'xinetd' after running 'chkconfig talk on', as 'chkconfig' does the necessary reconfiguring of xinetd it's self.

If 'talk ' (when 'user' is signed in) still fails, check to see if the firewall is blocking access to local UDP ports.

If it still fails, then see what the 'mesg' command reports (for both your end and their end). It could be that they've dis-allowed messaging to their tty.

NOTE: You may need to enable it as 'ntalk', not 'talk'.. 'chkconfig ntalk on'. Unfortunately (badly documented) it appears as if the old talk daemon (which uses port 517) isn't used, and the talk client uses ntalk protocol by default (port 518).

[Steven E. Protter]

Sorry.

Also make sure that
server = /usr/sbin/in.ntalkd

The file /usr/sbin/in.ntalkd actaully exists and that permissions are correct.

Here are my permissions.

-rwx--x--x 1 root root 14860 Jul 24 2001 /usr/sbin/in.ntalkd

Again, I think the tool is kind of archaic, but it is installed on my system.

SEP

[Steven E. Protter]

My last suggestion of the night would be to go through the posts perhaps bottom to top.

My result:

rpm -q talk-server
talk-server-0.17-12


If you don't get that result, download it, take it from cd or whatever

rpm -i talk-server-0.17-12

As noted before you don't need to use the chkconfig command or the service commmand for the talk server.

Configure the daemon and then:

service xinetd restart

I would try and test it for you but not going to mess with a production server.

If you really need it, I can go through the thread and cut and paste a complete step by step guide.

With regards to having the latest version. I always start with the app cd's because the installs seem to go better when you start there. Then I use the red hat update facility to get any revisions. I find that methodology more reliable.

Has any of the efforts made on your behalf thus far earned a point?

SEP
4 Points behind Albert E Whale CSSP

Good Luck.

[juno2]

thx all valuable suggestion , after i change talk to ntalk in the file , then it is ok.