Problem editing user/group settings

Nifty Hat Mitch mitch48 at sbcglobal.net
Mon Sep 27 19:50:01 UTC 2004


On Sun, Sep 26, 2004 at 02:12:16AM -0700, Tom Taylor wrote:
> 
> Tonight I tried to go into system-config-users to add groups to my user 
> account I got the message:
> 
> The user database cannot be read.  This problem is most likely caused by a 
> mismatch in /etc/password and /etc/shadow.
> 
> My question is WHY and how do I CORRECT it?

First it should be passwd not password.
Is this typo yours or a bug in the tool.

Are you using any 'other' user database (NIS, LDAP, ...).

We do not know what the problem is so 
you need to inspect /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow.

First use:
   less /etc/passwd
   less /etc/shadow
   ls -l /etc/passwd /etc/shadow

If looking at the two files does not show you the problem
you might try looking at them side by side.

   vim -dR /etc/passwd /etc/shadow.

Look for lines in one that are unpaired on the other.
Then look for errors in each pair.

Tools might help...

Read the man page for "pwck" then "pwconv".
Scan /etc/login.defs


-- 
	T o m  M i t c h e l l 
	Me, I would "Rather" Not.




More information about the fedora-list mailing list