fellman@celece.ucsd.edu (Ronald Fellman) (01/18/90)
I was wondering whether anyone else has noticed a bug I found in Communicae and if there were any fixes for it. Apparently, when Communicae launches, no entry is made in /tmp/utmp. This means that 'w', 'finger', 'who' and 'remind' don't work properly. No one would know whether I am logged on. 'Remind' had to be modified and re-compiled in order to work. -ron fellman (rfellman@ucsd.edu)
izumi@violet.berkeley.edu (Izumi Ohzawa) (01/18/90)
In article <7711@sdcsvax.UCSD.Edu> rfellman@ucsd.edu (Ronald D. Fellman) writes: >I was wondering whether anyone else has noticed a bug I found in >Communicae and if there were any fixes for it. Apparently, when >Communicae launches, no entry is made in /tmp/utmp. This means that 'w', >'finger', 'who' and 'remind' don't work properly. No one would know >whether I am logged on. 'Remind' had to be modified and re-compiled in >order to work. > NeXT's Terminal and Shell need the 'setuid' bit set to update the /etc/utmp file. Perhaps, if you set it, it might work. w, finger, who etc on NeXT are nearly unsuable because files these programs use aren't maintained consistently. Termial and Shell enter an entry into /etc/utmp, but they do not clear the entry when the user logs out from Workspace without first quitting these programs. If 'setuid' fixes entering record, I certainly hope that Communicae also removes entry when terminate message is sent from Workspace to it. By the way, the MOTD program by Christopher Lane fixes some of these problems by maintaining /usr/adm/wtmp and /usr/adm/lastlog files. With this, at least the 'console' entry of 'w', 'finger' will show correct infomation EVEN IF the user does not launch any of terminal emulator programs. MOTD is available at cs.orst.edu archive. Other sites may have the latest edition by now. Izumi Ohzawa izumi@violet.berkeley.edu
lane@sumex-aim.stanford.edu (Christopher Lane) (01/19/90)
We use MOTD's {Login,Logout}Hook routines to maintain 'wtmp' and 'lastlog'.
For our NeXTs, I've also turned off the setuid bit on Terminal to keep it from
adding wtmp login entries (for which there may be no companion logout
entries). This causes complaint messages to show up in /usr/adm/messages
every time Terminal fails to write the 'wtmp' file, but it still runs OK.
This helps us get better time accounting information from 'last' and reduces
the number of 'ghost' users showing up in 'who' & 'finger' (and other
problems).
Unfortunately, Shell continues to cause both 'ghost' users and open ended
'wtmp' entries since we can't turn off its setuid bit and still run it--Shell
won't open a new window if it can't write the 'wtmp' file. (So much for
software consistency checking ;-)
- Christopher
-------jacob@gore.com (Jacob Gore) (01/19/90)
/ comp.sys.next / lane@sumex-aim.stanford.edu (Christopher Lane) / Jan 18 '90 / > I've also turned off the setuid bit on Terminal to keep it from > adding wtmp login entries Does 'talk' still work from a Terminal window? Or do you get a "you don't exist, go away" message? Jacob -- Jacob Gore Jacob@Gore.Com boulder!gore!jacob
fellman@celece.ucsd.edu (Ronald Fellman) (01/19/90)
I called Active Ingredients about the bug and they say that it (and some other obscure bug) are not fixed. One can send in the old (official) OD to them and get the updated version for free. -ron
fellman@celece.ucsd.edu (Ronald Fellman) (01/19/90)
Sorry about the typo. That last message should have read: The bug is NOW fixed!! -ron
fin@uh.msc.umn.edu (Craig Finseth) (01/20/90)
In article <7719@sdcsvax.UCSD.Edu> rfellman@ucsd.edu (Ronald Fellman) writes: >I called Active Ingredients about the bug and they say that it (and >some other obscure bug) are not fixed. One can send in the old (official) >OD to them and get the updated version for free. I also believe that the update is free and ready to ship. I understand that it carefully hacks wtmp/utmp/whatever and properly puts it back when you exit. Craig A. Finseth fin@msc.umn.edu [CAF13] Minnesota Supercomputer Center, Inc. +1 612 624 3375