[comp.unix.i386] Terminal Database login problem

kemp@convex1.convex.com (Phil Kemp) (07/16/90)

I caught the end of a thread last week about SCO UNIX failing to allow
logins due to corruption of the terminal database. This bug has bite
me twice now and I would like to know if anyone has further info on the
details of this corruption. The first time I tried to reboot I couldn't
get the system back up. I had to re-install from scratch. ( Well the
base system, anyway... ). The problem has re-occurred and I am not able
to check it out immediately. Please post as I'm not sure how well my
mail is going to work this week :-( ....

Thanks for any help
PK
Phil Kemp
CONVEX Computer of Canada Ltd.
Voice:(403)-233-2815
UUCP:kemp@convex.com

wht@n4hgf.Mt-Park.GA.US (Warren Tucker) (07/18/90)

In article <103961@convex.convex.com> kemp@convex1.convex.com (Phil Kemp) writes:
>I caught the end of a thread last week about SCO UNIX failing to allow
>logins due to corruption of the terminal database. This bug has bite
>me twice now and I would like to know if anyone has further info on the
>details of this corruption. The first time I tried to reboot I couldn't
>get the system back up.

Putting

OVERRIDE=tty01

in /etc/default/login will let you log in as root on the
first multiscreen even if the brown shirts (auth, SecureWare and
friends) are miffed.

Rebulding the kernel environment (idmkenv) seems to fix the problem
for me, but I don't know why.
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Warren Tucker, TuckerWare  emory!n4hgf!wht or wht@n4hgf.Mt-Park.GA.US
Ker-au'-lo-phon.   An  8-foot  partial  flue-stop, having metal pipes
surmounted by adjustable rings, and with a hole bored near the top of
each pipe.  Tone soft and "reedy".

gws@xenitec.on.ca (Geoff Scully) (07/19/90)

In article <103961@convex.convex.com> kemp@convex1.convex.com (Phil Kemp) writes:
>
>I caught the end of a thread last week about SCO UNIX failing to allow
>logins due to corruption of the terminal database. This bug has bite
>me twice now and I would like to know if anyone has further info on the
>details of this corruption. The first time I tried to reboot I couldn't
>get the system back up. I had to re-install from scratch. ( Well the
>base system, anyway... ). The problem has re-occurred and I am not able
>to check it out immediately. Please post as I'm not sure how well my
>mail is going to work this week :-( ....
>

The problem is with the files /etc/auth/system/ttys*.

There should be only on file in /etc/auth/system named ttys. When
multiple login-logouts occur too rapidly a working file named either
ttys-t or ttys-s will also reside in /etc/auth/system. You don't mention
what version of SCO UNIX you are running, so some of the following may
not apply. 

If you are running 3.2.1 or later, or if you have the 3.2.0 upgrade
(unx146?? my memory fails me) for this problem, you should have a line in
/etc/default/login that says

OVERRIDE=tty01

or something like it. If this is the case you should be able to log in on
tty01 and correct the problem by examining the files in /etc/auth/system.
One of ttys, ttys-t or ttys-s will be a current version of your tty
database, the others will either be incomplete or empty. Make sure the
complete one ends up in /etc/auth/system/ttys and remove all others. You
should now be able to log in on any tty.

If the OVERRIDE feature is not available to you, first you should call
SCO support and get them to send the appropriate "unx???" disk to you.
You will likely have to shutdown hard if you are not logged in somewhere
as root when it happens. Bring the system back up from your boot+root
floppies and mount the hdroot filesystem on the floppy. Follow the same
procedure as above to remove the extra ttys files from /etc/auth/system.

Hope this helps...

			--g
----
Geoff Scully                    Support Services -- XeniTec Consulting Services
Internet: gws@xenitec.on.ca		   UUCP: ..!{uunet!}watmath!xenitec!gws

mykel@saleven.oz (Michael Landers) (07/25/90)

In article <103961@convex.convex.com> kemp@convex1.convex.com (Phil Kemp) writes:
>I caught the end of a thread last week about SCO UNIX failing to allow
>logins due to corruption of the terminal database. This bug has bite
>me twice now and I would like to know if anyone has further info on the
>details of this corruption.

The first thing you should do when you install an SCO system is to add
"OVERRIDE=tty01" to /etc/default/login.  This (as was previously mentioned)
allows root to login on /dev/tty01 (ie the first of the console screen).

As for the actual problem.  If it is the same one that I have had a few
(well, lots actually) times here then all you have to do is remove the
file /etc/auth/system/ttys-t.  This, I believe, is a tempory file used
when recreating the terminal database information (which happens quite
a lot), and when you log in, it can't recreate it as it is still there
(note: logins rewrite the terminal database to update last login etc).
I don't know why it is there, but it is simple enough to remove.

Mykel.
-- 
 ()                                   \\     Black Wind always follows
|\/|ykel Landers  (mykel@saleven.oz)   \\    Where by dark horse rides,
_||_                                    \\   Fire is in my soul,
Phone: +612 906 3833 Fax: +612 906 2537  \\  Steel is by my side.

kleiner@bu-tyng.bu.edu (Ken Kleiner) (07/27/90)

In article <103961@convex.convex.com> kemp@convex1.convex.com (Phil Kemp) writes:
>
>I caught the end of a thread last week about SCO UNIX failing to allow
>logins due to corruption of the terminal database. This bug has bite
>me twice now and I would like to know if anyone has further info on the
>details of this corruption. The first time I tried to reboot I couldn't
>get the system back up. I had to re-install from scratch. ( Well the
>base system, anyway... ). The problem has re-occurred and I am not able
>to check it out immediately. Please post as I'm not sure how well my
>mail is going to work this week :-( ....
>
>Thanks for any help

Hi,

	Well, I came across that problem in an SCO class that I was
	teaching.  All of a sudden, a student said that he couldn't
	log in.  He was getting the error 'Cant Obtain Database Info
	on this Terminal'.  It happened right after we tried
	the 'mscreen' command (some were still in mscreen).  It seems that
	there was a file called /etc/auth/system/ttys-t hanging around.
	We renamed it to something else and everything worked fine after
	that.  Is this a temp file of some sort built from 
	/etc/auth/system/ttys?  

	BTW, it only happens when you use mscreen.

	Anybody else seen this?



							-Ken


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ken Kleiner      <<<  {wang}{ulowell}{elrond}{decvax}!bu-tyng!kleiner  >>>
Boston University's Corporate Education Center (Computer Center)
72 Tyng Road, Tyngsboro, MA 01879       (508) 649-9731

GO RED SOX!!!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

root@mjbtn.JOBSOFT.COM (Mark J. Bailey) (07/28/90)

kleiner@bu-tyng.bu.edu (Ken Kleiner) writes:

>In article <103961@convex.convex.com> kemp@convex1.convex.com (Phil Kemp) writes:
>>
>>I caught the end of a thread last week about SCO UNIX failing to allow
>>logins due to corruption of the terminal database. This bug has bite
>>me twice now and I would like to know if anyone has further info on the
>>details of this corruption. The first time I tried to reboot I couldn't
>>get the system back up. I had to re-install from scratch. ( Well the
>>base system, anyway... ). The problem has re-occurred and I am not able
>>to check it out immediately. Please post as I'm not sure how well my
>>mail is going to work this week :-( ....
>>
>>Thanks for any help

>Hi,

>	Well, I came across that problem in an SCO class that I was
>	teaching.  All of a sudden, a student said that he couldn't
>	log in.  He was getting the error 'Cant Obtain Database Info
>	on this Terminal'.  It happened right after we tried
>	the 'mscreen' command (some were still in mscreen).  It seems that
>	there was a file called /etc/auth/system/ttys-t hanging around.
>	We renamed it to something else and everything worked fine after
>	that.  Is this a temp file of some sort built from 
>	/etc/auth/system/ttys?  

>	BTW, it only happens when you use mscreen.

>	Anybody else seen this?



>							-Ken

I have had the same problem for some time on SCO Unix 3.2.1 (shipped
with EAP ODT).  It occurs when the terminal database logging process
fails (somehow) and does not completely remove its temp files.  This
is documented in at least the ODT system admin's guide in the section
on error messages.

I contacted SCO about it and they are aware of it and are working on
a fix.  Aparently (IMHO), there is a flaw in their algorithm.  They 
had a fix disk for a while and then pulled it (I assume because of
continued problems).  This is all a part of the C2 security system.
In my experience with it, it occurs when several people are logging
in or out simultaneously.  The processes working with the ttys must
collide at a critical section and die prematurely.  Your experience
with it when using mscreen would likely create such a period of lots
of logging in processes.  I suspect that this is big on SCO's fix list.

When I posted to the net about a month ago, one reader sent me
the following shell script that I think he got from SCO as a temporary
fix (kludge) to cleanup when the garbage ttys-* files get left around.
I run it from cron every 30 minutes, and while I am still running into
this problem, at least every 30 minutes, it is being checked and cleared!
While there is a possibility of it running at the same time someone is
logging in, so far I have had no problems.  Beats driving 10 miles across 
town from home everytime it screws up.  I suppose one could add a little
to the front of the script to check for temp ttys-* that are older than,
say, 5 minutes.

You should contact SCO tech support and at least get on the list for
the fix.  I believe it will be an update to the C2 security system.

Hope this helps.  Thanks to Lance Ellinghouse for this fix!  It works!  :-)

Mark.

-------------------------------- cut here ---------------------------------

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From: uunet!hermix!root (Superuser)
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To: mjbtn!mjb
Subject: Fix for problems with *-t files on TTYs
Date: Mon, 18 Jun 90 13:41:47 PDT
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Status: RO

Here is a fix that I put together for the problem of TTYs
database going down due to the *-t file being left there.
The script follows and then put a line in the root's crontab
to run this every now and then. This fix was given to me by 
SCO after MANY MANY complaints from eme. Have fun!

------- Cut here --------

#
# This is to fix the tty database when it gets a messed up
# 

if [ -f /etc/auth/system/ttys ]
then
   if [ -f /etc/auth/system/ttys-t ]
   then
      rm /etc/auth/system/ttys-t
   fi
   if [ -f /etc/auth/system/ttys-o ]
   then 
      rm /etc/auth/system/ttys-o
   fi
   exit
fi

if [ -f /etc/auth/system/ttys-o ]
then
   mv /etc/auth/system/ttys-o /etc/auth/system/ttys
   chown auth /etc/auth/system/ttys
   chgrp auth /etc/auth/system/ttys
   chmod 664 /etc/auth/system/ttys
   if [ -f /etc/auth/system/ttys-t ]
   then
      rm /etc/auth/system/ttys-t
   fi
   exit
fi

if [ -f /etc/auth/system/ttys-t ]
then
   mv /etc/auth/system/ttys-t /etc/auth/system/ttys
   chown auth /etc/auth/system/ttys
   chgrp auth /etc/auth/system/ttys
   chmod 664 /etc/auth/system/ttys
   exit
fi

------ Done ------

Have fun and enjoy! 
Lance Ellinghouse
Mark V Systems, Ltd.
E-mail: uunet!sco!hermix!lance
        hermix!lance@anes.ucla.edu

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