This passwd file is called /etc/master.passwd - /etc/passwd is
merely a suedo file created by master.passwd.

yacko
yacko@wildstar.net
Administrator vortex.owned.net

On Tue, 18 Mar 1997, Christopher R. Bowman wrote:

> On Tue, 18 Mar 1997 Robert_Atkinson@ascend.com wrote:
> 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > I have run into two problems which I believe might be inter-related and
> > hope
> > someone might shed some light on as to what might be going wrong or what I
> > am doing
> > wrong.
> > 
> > 1) I cannot change the passwd for root. Each time I do and try to login I
> > get an "incorrect login"
> > error (double and triple checking the password entered each time). From
> > which point I have
> > to replace the file in /etc. I can also not create a user, each time (using
> > vipw) I get a similar
> > error. I was able to add a user once using "cpin" and "cpout" but then I
> > get an error that the user
> > does not exist even though I do a "more" on the passwd file and can see the
> > entry with all the
> > required info (login, UID, etc.).
> 
> NetBSD uses a passwd database/shadow password file.  The contents of
> /etc/passwd are not really used for logins.  In reality a binary database
> is built from /etc/passwd, and that is used instead.  If you use vipw
> it will automagically create a lock file so no other modifications can
> occur to the password file, invoke vi on the passwd file, and run the
> program that generates the binary password database from the edited
> plaintext /etc/passwd file.
> 
> MORAL: su to root and use passwd, or su to root and use vipw, you might
> also be able to delete the binary file, (its in /etc sonewhere, probably
> passwd.db or some such, I aint on a NetBSD machine right now) and
> see if the system will regenerate it from the plaintext /etc/passwd after
> a reboot.
>  
> I have no clue about #2, I don't really even understand what is going
> wrong, want to try to describe it in more detail?
> 
> ---------
> Christopher R. Bowman
> crb@Glue.umd.edu
> My home page 
>