stew@hanauma.UUCP (Stewart Levin) (09/13/86)
-------> I'd like to set up a convenient login account "lpq" so that users standing next to our printer can run /usr/ucb/lpq by simply typing "lpq" to the "Login:" prompt at any of the nearby terminals. The following /etc/passwd line does the trick: lpq::12:0:Ipq:/usr/spool/uucppublic:/usr/ucb/lpq where I've placed a .hushlogin file in uucppublic to supress the usual display of /etc/motd and other login notices. My concern is whether this no-password account would permit outsiders access to our system. I'm not concerned here about inside hackers, only about outside breakin. We're running a 4.2BSD clone (Convex Unix 4.0). Reply by e-mail is fine, even preferable, and you may mail to "root" if desired. Thanks for any info. UUCP: ...!decvax!hanauma!stew
bzs@bu-cs.bu.EDU (Barry Shein) (09/18/86)
My solution at BU to this was to add a hack to finger: If the GECOS field consists of the string 'RC' [utterly arbitrary] then the finger daemon presumes there is a program by the same name as the account in the 'home' directory that should be run and its output should be sent instead of the normal finger output, thus: finger lpq@bu-cs would respond with the queue info. I mainly liked this because adding new ones is just a matter of adding /etc/passwd entries (like you're moving towards.) It's also a lot cheaper than going through a login just to get a queue status although we've done what you're doing also with no problems. Obviously if the machine you are coming from doesn't have net access you're out of luck for this soln. -Barry Shein, Boston University