bernd@pfm.rmt.sub.org (Bernd Hennig) (04/02/91)
I have a great problem with the SCO UNIX 3.2.2 and cron. The following
is a job in /usr/spool/cron/crontabs/news:
15,30,40,00 * * * * /bin/su news -c "/usr/lib/news/bin/input/newsrun"
(at example, this is only ONE job..)
And the result is, that cron mails me:
Cron: can't set login UID
Your commands will not be executed
(on Interactive 3.2 or Microport 3.0e this works fine, on SCO UNIX 3.2.2 not..)
Who can help me...
--
Bernd Hennig | Eibenweg 4| 6500 Mainz | 06131/366721 | bernd@pfm.rmt.sub.org
Man sollte seinen Feinden verzeihen - aber nicht, bevor sie am Galgen haengen
Heinrich Heine 1797 - 1856sl@van-bc.wimsey.bc.ca (Stuart Lynne) (04/03/91)
In article <1991Apr02.123535.11230@pfm.rmt.sub.org> bernd@pfm.rmt.sub.org (Bernd Hennig) writes: >I have a great problem with the SCO UNIX 3.2.2 and cron. The following >is a job in /usr/spool/cron/crontabs/news: > >15,30,40,00 * * * * /bin/su news -c "/usr/lib/news/bin/input/newsrun" > Just use: 15,30,40,00 * * * * "/usr/lib/news/bin/input/newsrun" And make sure that it is in the crontab for "news". I.e.: crontab -u news .... For SCO UNIX, cron set's up the proper environment for you, including the LUID. So you don't need the "su ..." stuff. -- Stuart Lynne Computer Signal Corporation, Canada ...!van-bc!sl 604-937-7532(voice) sl@wimsey.bc.ca
em@dce.ie (Eamonn McManus) (04/03/91)
sl@van-bc.wimsey.bc.ca (Stuart Lynne) writes: >In article <1991Apr02.123535.11230@pfm.rmt.sub.org> bernd@pfm.rmt.sub.org (Bernd Hennig) writes: >>I have a great problem with the SCO UNIX 3.2.2 and cron. The following >>is a job in /usr/spool/cron/crontabs/news: >>15,30,40,00 * * * * /bin/su news -c "/usr/lib/news/bin/input/newsrun" >Just use: > 15,30,40,00 * * * * "/usr/lib/news/bin/input/newsrun" >And make sure that it is in the crontab for "news". I.e.: As an alternative, install our SCO su replacement, which sets the luid to the same as the uid you are su-ing to (by doing some naughty things with /dev/kmem). , Eamonn
cpcahil@virtech.uucp (Conor P. Cahill) (04/04/91)
bernd@pfm.rmt.sub.org (Bernd Hennig) writes: >I have a great problem with the SCO UNIX 3.2.2 and cron. The following >is a job in /usr/spool/cron/crontabs/news: >15,30,40,00 * * * * /bin/su news -c "/usr/lib/news/bin/input/newsrun" You don't need the su here. Any jobs in the "news" crontab will be run with user id set to news. >And the result is, that cron mails me: >Cron: can't set login UID This is because the su command wants a password (since it is not being invoked by root, but by news) and can't get one since input is mapped to /dev/null and it doesn't have a controll tty. -- Conor P. Cahill (703)430-9247 Virtual Technologies, Inc. uunet!virtech!cpcahil 46030 Manekin Plaza, Suite 160 Sterling, VA 22170
macleod@cmllab.rgb.sub.org (Connor MacLeod) (04/04/91)
In article <1991Apr02.123535.11230@pfm.rmt.sub.org> bernd@pfm.rmt.sub.org (Bernd Hennig) wrote: | I have a great problem with the SCO UNIX 3.2.2 and cron. The following | is a job in /usr/spool/cron/crontabs/news: | 15,30,40,00 * * * * /bin/su news -c "/usr/lib/news/bin/input/newsrun" | Cron: can't set login UID Hmmm... Maybe it's the problem that "news" want's to su to news. Have you tried the command without the "/bin/su -c"? Are you sure you're running 3.2v2? (Have a look at /etc/perms/rts. There should be a line like "#rel=3.2.2n") If this all is of no help try moving the jobs to /usr/spool/cron/crontabs/root ^^^^ Rgds -- Uwe Obst # {connor|macleod}@cmllab.rgb.sub.org (aka Connor MacLeod) # "Trust me, I know what I'm doing!" -- Sledge Hammer
mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us (Marc Unangst) (04/04/91)
bernd@pfm.rmt.sub.org (Bernd Hennig) writes: > Cron: can't set login UID Lemme guess. You killed and re-started cron, in order to get it to re-read your crontab, right? Bad move. SCO Unix cron, in order to set the LUID to run jobs as another user, has to run WITHOUT an LUID. Since there is no way to reset your LUID once it's set, and no way to un-set it, cron has to be started from the rc scripts, not from a shell prompt. If you reboot the machine, things should be fixed. I don't know if this is fixed if you install unx257; one would hope that it is, but knowing SCO, I doubt it. -- Marc Unangst | mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us | "Bus error: passengers dumped" ...!umich!leebai!mudos!mju |
em@dce.ie (Eamonn McManus) (04/05/91)
mju@mudos.ann-arbor.mi.us (Marc Unangst) writes: >Bad move. SCO Unix cron, in order to set the LUID to run jobs as >another user, has to run WITHOUT an LUID. Since there is no way to >reset your LUID once it's set, and no way to un-set it, cron has to be >started from the rc scripts, not from a shell prompt. As an alternative to launching cron from rc, you can have it spawned by init. This is a little complicated, because the first thing the cron daemon does is to fork itself into the background. If you just try to launch it from inittab, init will think it has finished immediately and will end up launching a lot of cron daemons. What we do here is to launch a shell script that starts cron and then execs `pause', a program that just does a pause() system call. Then when we want a new cron, we kill the existing cron and the `pause'. By the way, 3.2.0 at least does not have a -u option to crontab, making it really unpleasant to change the crontab for another user except by using this technique or su-ing to that user. If you use the default su it can be quite hard to su to another user even if you know their password. Luckily we have installed a replacement su too. , Eamonn Here is /etc/startcron, which we invoked from /etc/inittab: : use /bin/sh # Start cron by removing an old FIFO and starting cron itself. # We need this script because inittab commands are execed so there # can't be more than one shell command. # Aug 17 1990 rm -f /usr/lib/cron/FIFO trap "" 2 3 # Don't let console quit and intr affect cron. . /etc/TIMEZONE # Probably don't need /etc/cron # Cron forks into the background so this script waits forever; kill the # script when you kill cron, if you want to start a new cron. exec /etc/pause
rwhite@nusdecs.uucp (Robert White) (04/06/91)
The "su -c" is only necessary for crontab entrys run as root. If your system supports separate crontabs for each user the "su -c" is unnecessary and should be removed. The sample entrys are presented under the "most limited system assumptions" (IMHO) and should be modifyed as approprate. It worked here just fine. -- Robert C. White Jr. | The degree to which a language may be Network Administrator | classified as a "living" language National University | is best expressed as the basic ratio crash!nusdecs!rwhite | of its speakers to its linguists.
dave@pmafire.inel.gov (Dave Remien) (04/07/91)
In article <boogie@dce.ie> em@dce.ie (Eamonn McManus) writes: =>As an alternative to launching cron from rc, you can have it spawned by =>init. This is a little complicated, because the first thing the cron =>daemon does is to fork itself into the background. If you just try to =>launch it from inittab, init will think it has finished immediately and =>will end up launching a lot of cron daemons. What we do here is to launch =>a shell script that starts cron and then execs `pause', a program that =>just does a pause() system call. Then when we want a new cron, we kill =>the existing cron and the `pause'. => [...] =>Here is /etc/startcron, which we invoked from /etc/inittab: =>: use /bin/sh =># Start cron by removing an old FIFO and starting cron itself. =># We need this script because inittab commands are execed so there =># can't be more than one shell command. =># Aug 17 1990 =>rm -f /usr/lib/cron/FIFO =>trap "" 2 3 # Don't let console quit and intr affect cron. =>. /etc/TIMEZONE # Probably don't need =>/etc/cron =># Cron forks into the background so this script waits forever; kill the =># script when you kill cron, if you want to start a new cron. =>exec /etc/pause Instead of the pause, why not: sleep 2 # give cron time to fork and settle down exec wait_on `ps -e | grep cron | awk '{print $1}'` Where wait_on.c is: main(argc, argv) int argc; char *argv[]; { int proc_pid; proc_pid = atoi(argv[1]); while(!kill(proc_pid, 0))sleep(1); } At least you only have to croak the cron, that way. Dave -- Dave Remien +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+ WINCO Computer Engineering Group dave@pmafire.inel.gov or rzd@inel.gov "Dave Barry for President"