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Editor: Michael Orr
Technical Editor: Heather Stern
Senior Contributing Editor: Jim Dennis
Contributing Editors: Michael "Alex" Williams, Don Marti, Ben Okopnik
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http://www.linuxgazette.com/This page maintained by the Editor of Linux Gazette, gazette@ssc.com
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Contents: |
These questions have been selected among the hundreds the Gazette recieves each month. Article submissions on these topics will be eagerly accepted at gazette@ssc.com, and posted in the next issue.
Answers to these questions should be sent directly to the e-mail address of the inquirer with or without a copy to gazette@ssc.com. Answers that are copied to LG will be printed in the next issue -- in the Tips column if simple, the Answer Gang if more complex and detailed.
Before asking a question, please check the Linux Gazette FAQ to see if it has been answered there. The AnswerGuy "past answers index" may also be helpful (if a bit dusty).
Internet Cafe Management SoftwareHi Folks.
I've taken a quick look around the web for Linux based Internet Cafe Software, with no luck. There's a few windows based packages around, but that will just not do. What I'm looking for is something which can record when people login and logoff and calculate how much they should pay. Have you seen anything like that? Even a set of instructions on how to do it with a set of scripts would be cool.
Alan Pater
www.celasmaya.edu.gt
Can any of our fair readers find some good internet cafe or "walk in ISP" software? We can only offer the following leads:
Try looking around including the keyword Coffeenet. That was a Linux based cafe in the S.F. area; he closed shop when he had his lease end, but it was successful before that, the building owner just didn't want to renew. I'm pretty sure he open sourced the distro he created, but note, it depends on having a serious NFS server in the back.
I know the VA Linux "mail garden" machines and his, had a similar feature of cleaning up after anything local, so the machines never have any interesting leftovers from previous clients. xdm or gdm have control files for stuff to do before and after a session, so it should be possible to add accounting functions to logging in and out, and to add cleanup to logging out, quite easily. Keeping people from accessing text mode is a little more work, but I don't think Coffeenet was preventing that.
Neither of these actually kick someone out when their time is up, so you
still have some work to do if your shop is too big to merely keep an eye
on people and rely on a popup "you've been on for awhile" note.
-- Heather
I don't know of any scripts, but "last" gives you login/logout times by user. Should be possible to dump the output into a database via some pretty simple awk, perl, python, or even sh scripts.
Last reads wtmp, so watch out for when your wtmp gets rotated. Most log rotation scripts will move wtmp to a backup, for example wtmp.1, and "last" will take a filename as a parameter.
Sample output from "last":
[ ... ] dlong ttyp3 passenger.ssc.co Fri Dec 1 09:21 - 09:22 (00:00) carrie ttyp5 catnip.ssc.com Fri Dec 1 08:48 - 17:04 (08:15) fax_inc ttyS0 +39 45 877 Fri Dec 1 08:43 - 08:44 (00:01) annie ttyp4 passenger.ssc.co Fri Dec 1 08:42 - 14:48 (06:06) dlong ttyp3 passenger.ssc.co Fri Dec 1 08:20 - 09:03 (00:42) [ ... ]
See "man last".
-- Dan Wilder
geforce cardI have RH 7.0 which has XFree86 4.0.1 which does not support Geforce 2 chips yet. Is there a patch or update or howto to install the necessary support.
Regards RonN
Any developer types want to help him out here? Xfree86 4.0.2 came out, but it still has no special support for this card, so unless it works in VESA mode, he's out of luck for now...
And, we'll galdly take articles on adding support for new cards to X version 4! -- Heather
Hiding samba shares across multiple networks
Hi guys (and Heather
!
I've got an interesting little problem with Samba and hiding shares when multiple networks are involved. I'm hoping one of you can help out, or maybe one of the Gentle Readers has already done this.
I have one Samba box with two network interfaces (on one NIC using virtual lans), say 192.168.1.10 and 192.168.2.10. Two companies sit on each network and can't learn about the other. Let's call them "Acme, Limited" (192.168.1.0/24) and "Coyotes-R-Us" (192.168.2.0/24). They, of course, use Another Operating System.
What I want to do is to create shares on the Samba box for Acme and Coyote to store their files. That's easy enough, the problem is in restricting what they see.
If I create Acme and Coyote as users and share the home directories via the [homes] default share, Acme will not see Coyote's share and vice versa. This is good. However, if the CEO of "Coyotes-R-Us", Mr. Wiley, logs onto the Acme network, he will see the Coyote [home] share appear on the Acme network. This is NOT a Good Thing.
(I tested this by placing a Windows box on Acme's network via a port on a Cisco switch that was set up to handle only Acme's vlan.)
If, OTOH, I set them up as separate shares and restrict them via IP addresses a la "allowed_hosts=", both companies can see the other's share, which is Not A Good Thing, even though they cannot access the other's share (always a good thing).
I've been hacking at this for several days trying to figure something out, as
well as surfing Google, Deja.com, the samba mailing lists, and any other place
I could think of. You are my Last Great Hope.
TIA!
===== Sincerely, Faber Fedor
It looks like the Answer Gang could stand to be joined by a serious Samba expert. Anyone care to jump in?
Thank you for your telnet logging screen articleI scoured the net and your article gave me the answer so that might log my telnet session.
Thank you.
I've been doing a lot of abstract painting lately, extremely abstract. No brush, no paint, no canvas, I just think about it. -- Steven Wright
LGLG is awesome, if you charged for it I would subscribe. When I get some free time one of these I hope to pen a few articles and such.
Thanks. Linux Gazette was established as a free zine and we firmly
intend to keep it that way. There are already paid magazines out
there (we publish one of them
, but LG fills a unique niche. No
other e-zine I know of (Linux or otherwise) is read, not just
through a single point of access, but in large part via mirrors or
off-line (via FTP files, CD-ROMS, etc).
Also, because LG's articles are written by our readers, you (readers) are truly writing your own magazine. I only put things together and insert a few comments here and there, and occasionally write an article. If it weren't for our volunteer authors, there would be no Linux Gazette. When I first took over editing in June 1999, I used to wonder every month whether there would be enough articles. But every month my mailbox magically fills with enough articles not just for a minimal zine (5-10 technical articles), but for a robust zine with 15+ articles covering a variety of content (for newbies and oldbies, technical articles and cartoons). A year ago, we never predicted there would be cartoons in the Gazette, but the authors just wrote in and offered them, and it's been a great addition. It is truly a privilege to work with such a responsive group of readers, and years from now when I'm retired (hi, Margie!), I'm sure I will remember fondly what an opportunity it was.
Our biggest thanks go to The Answer Gang, especially Heather and Jim, who each spend 20+ hours a month unpaid compiling The Answer Gang, 2-Cent Tips and The Mailbag. This has really made things a lot easier for me.
Awwww, shux. I do get the occasional consulting lead from this, though. -- Heather
we look forward to printing some articles with your name on them. See the Author Info section at http://www.linuxgazette.com/faq/index.html#author
And you other readers who haven't contributed anything yet, get off your asses and send something in! Write a letter for the Mailbag, answer a tech-support question, join The Answer Gang, do a translation for our foreign-language sites, or write an article. What do you wish the Gazette had more of? That's what it needs from you.
-- Mike Orr
Would be lovely if you guys established an EFNET irc channel
-- BanDiDo
installOn Sun, Dec 10, 2000 at 07:36:50AM -0000, <Name Snipped> wrote:
<A querent asked that we not publish his email>
If all you meant was not to publish your e-mail address, then please write back with your question and be sure to clarify that. If not, then consider this:
I can't speak for the whole Answer Gang, nor do I set Linux Gazette policy - but I, for one, have absolutely zero interest in being a free one-on-one tutor for the general public, although I'm always willing to help my friends. I enjoy the fact that the effort I expend in answering these questions goes toward helping everyone in the Linux community: even those that don't read the LG benefit from the general dispersion of good, useful Linux knowledge. This is precisely why I expend the effort, or is at least one of my major motivations for doing so.
For anyone wanting one-on-one tech support and tutoring, it's "cash on the barrel" in a "what you get is what you pay for" economy. Cash preferred, bank checks are OK, major credit cards cheerfully accepted.
Ben Okopnik
Security articles[A guest commentary from our News Bytes editor. I asked him to summarize the controversy on Slashdot regarding SSH/SSL vulnerabilities, and to assess whether we need an article on it. -Mike]
Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2000 16:55:56 +0000
Subject: Re: Late News Bytes additions
From: Michael Conry michael.conry@softhome.net
Hi Mike, please find attached the <A HREF="lg_bytes61.html">news bytes 61 file</A>. I did go through the SSH issues, and summarised them briefly. I kind of skirted around the SSL because it seemed less clear cut, and very much an issue of implementation and protecting users from themselves. Most discussion in the links focussed on SSH in any case.
I would recommend, not an article on Holes in SSH, but rather an article on security in general. Lots of contradictory messages on Slashdot indicate that people still don't really understand what is going on or how exactly to administer a public key system.
The issues are not new, but are inherent in public key systems. pgp,gnupg is the same (how can i be sure the key i think is yours is really yours?). The biggest issue is probably users (lusers) ignoring warning messages.
The new dsniff software is probably worth commenting on also. I included a link in my short discussion, but have not studied it. What could be very interesting would be for an article to highlight how to use tools like this to strengthen your system/network by scrutinising it and probing it. Focus tends to be on how these tools allow malicious people to break other people's systems.
bye for now
michael
[There were several other messages this month, but it's 10:45pm on New Year's Eve, and I want to publish LG and get to the club by 12. The letters will be printed next month. -Mike.]
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Contents: |
Submitters, send your News Bytes items in PLAIN TEXT format. Other formats may be rejected without reading. You have been warned! A one- or two-paragraph summary plus URL gets you a better announcement than an entire press release.
January 2001 Linux Journal
The January issue of Linux Journal is on newsstands now. This issue focuses on Multimedia. Click here to view the table of contents, or here to subscribe. All articles through December 1999 are available for public reading at http://www.linuxjournal.com/lj-issues/mags.html. Recent articles are available on-line for subscribers only at http://interactive.linuxjournal.com/.
Vendors: Linux Journal's 2001 Buyer's Guide wants your product listings! Listings are absolutely FREE of charge, however you must register your products by January 15, 2001. The deadline is firm so make certain to get your free listings in today. http://www.linuxjournal.com/bg/.
Caldera
OREM, UT-December 19, 2000- Caldera Systems, Inc., announced that they have contracted with Richard Sharpe of the Samba team to create a client library that will make Linux and Microsoft integration easier for developers. The Caldera-funded project includes the development of library source code, associated reorganization and reuse of Samba code and documentation of the library API. The library and documentation will be available under the General Public License (GPL). Caldera's engineering group will work with the Samba team to complete the project by February 2001.
"Richard Sharpe is perfectly suited for this project," said John Terpstra, vice president of technology and Open Source strategist for Caldera Systems, "We believe this library built with Samba code will become the standard for developers writing software that integrates with Microsoft networks."
Developers interested in more technical detail on the project can visit the Samba Web page.
Mandrake
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, USA (December 4, 2000) - Integrated Computer Solutions, Inc. (ICS), the leading supplier of commercial OSF/Motif products and support, and MandrakeSoft, publisher of the Linux-Mandrake operating system, announced the immediate availability of Open Motif optimized for the Linux-Mandrake operating system. More details are available in the press release
Open Motif optimized for the Linux-Mandrake 7.2 operating system is available for free downloads at the MotifZone, ICS's Motif portal site (www.motifzone.net). Open Motif is also bundled with the Linux-Mandrake 7.2 PowerPack Deluxe.
Red Hat
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--December 11, 2000-- Red Hat, Inc. today announced that Cradle Technologies, Inc., is leveraging a broad set of Red Hat's embedded technologies and services as part of its strategy to supply a revolutionary silicon platform for stream processing applications.
The Cradle contract includes consulting services and porting of Red Hat's GNUPro embedded development tools, eCos and embedded Linux operating systems, to Cradle's Universal Microsystem platform (UMS). Cradle's UMS platform will make it possible for new embedded systems to be developed simply by redesigning software, rather than by constantly rebuilding the entire chip hardware.
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--December 13, 2000-- In further embedded Linux developments, Red Hat announces a deal with Rymic Systems that will put Red Hat Linux (uClinux) behind as many as 50,000 Army trucks and fighting vehicles. These vehicles will run a next-generation Rymic appliance that assesses, in real time, the likelihood of vehicle failure.
The device will monitor dozens of specific variables on an array of military vehicles, and provide decision-makers with additional information when considering which forces to deploy, which fighting vehicles to pull back from the battlefield and which vehicles require immediate maintenance and repairs.
For more information on Red Hat Embedded Linux please visit www.redhat.com/embedded.
SuSE
Oakland, Calif., USA (December 1, 2000) -- SuSE Linux announced a new strategic alliance with SGI. Under the alliance agreement, SGI will make an equity investment in SuSE Linux and will co-operate on the development, deployment and support of the Linux operating system and infrastructure code.
Earlier this year, the companies successfully introduced Linux FailSafe, a scalable and modular high-availability solution based on IRIS FailSafe system software developed for the SGI IRIX operating system. Linux FailSafe offers advanced clustering capabilities to Linux. SuSE, SGI and others also cooperated in the highly regarded IA-64 Trillian Linux effort.
SuSE have also brought it to our attention that there is integrated backward-compatible Pentium 4 recognition in the standard Linux kernel 2.2.16 included in SuSE Linux 7.0. A boot disk image of the kernel can be downloaded from their ftp site
Upcoming conferences and events
SSH/SSL Vulnerability
There have been a few articles going around regarding possible security risks associated with the use of SSH and SSL. Kurt Seifried has written several times on this subject, as far back as September 1999. More recently he has returned to the topic in an article on www.SecurityPortal.com, and a follow up article responding to some of the feedback he got from readers. This topic seems to have stirred up quite a reaction, and has been further discussed by the contributors to Slashdot.
Without wanting to repeat too much of the discussion that has gone before, the issue basically boil down to one of key exchange and trust. The only real risk to SSH security is in the initial contact with a machine when you do not know whether it is in fact the host you think it is. This is not an SSH problem, as such, but rather is a difficulty with any public key encryption system. The trick is to find a secure way to distribute your public key that does not inconvenience your users too much.
Also, the largest risk to security is not, in general, software problems. Many problems actually originate from users who ignore or do not understand warning signs that something is wrong. The problems with software highlighted in these articles are the extent to which they leave themselves open to poor use.
It is certainly worth pointing out that none of these links highlight any NEW flaw in the SSH/SSL system or implementation. The main reason for the recent focus on these issues is the release of a new piece of software: dsniff, which makes easy interception of SSH traffic more convenient for a wider number of people. This is not because it exploits any weakness, rather it provides some handy tools to automate the interception process. However, wide availability of these tools does increase the chance of casual attacks on systems.
The take-home message is that the best way to keep a system secure is by educating yourself your boss and your users about security. It is only by understanding what is going on that you have any chance of keeping your system healthy (hardly earth-shattering news, but true none-the-less).
Linux Clusters Powering Genome Research
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, Dec. 14, 2000 - Linux NetworX, Inc., a provider of large-scale clustered computer solutions announced that the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley Calif., has selected a Linux NetworX cluster computer system for its Drosophila Genome Project.
Using the Linux NetworX cluster system with 40 processors, Berkeley Lab is analyzing and sequencing the Drosophila (fruit fly) genome. The Drosophila's 15,000 genes are similar to a human's 100,000 genes and have been used extensively in the past as a model organism for research studies.
"The Linux NetworX cluster is much more cost efficient than the systems we've used in the past," said Erwin Frise, systems manager and biomedical scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Frise also explains that because clusters are highly scalable, Berkeley Lab will in the future be able to add additional compute modules to the system to keep it up to date, something not feasible with a supercomputer.
New look for ShowMeLinux
Vancouver, British Columbia. December 1st, 2000 - LuteLinux.com, a Canadian-based Linux developer announces the unveiling of ShowMeLinux's exciting new look. LuteLinux had previously announced the addition of ShowMeLinux to their family of services, LuteLinux is hosting all future issues and has taken over as publisher of ShowMeLinux. The new look was created by Adam Puchalski, a welcomed new addition to both LuteLinux and ShowMeLinux, as their Graphic/Web designer, and co-editor of ShowMeLinux.
ShowMeLinux is published with the goal of helping readers develop an in-depth understanding of the Linux movement through rich, beginner friendly content. It explores practices for configuring, deploying and maintaining the latest Linux technology.
HP and Sprint PCS Form Wireless Email Alliance
Linux based BizRelations Inc. Announces First Fully Functional Wireless Email in time for Holidays
BizRelations have largely based their IT infrastructure on an Open Source Linux foundation. BizRelations has successfully been using the Linux Virtual Server (LVS) along with RedHat's Piranha clustering tool to provide high availability and scalability for web, email and SQL services. Sybase ASE 11.0.3.3 for Linux was the SQL server chosen by BizRelations, while the email solution chosen was qmail Another core function is monitoring the availability of systems and networks. To fill this requirement NetSaint was used. "If there are any problems, an email gets sent to the support cellphone stating the nature of the problem." says Patrick Petersen (President of BizRelations). After running with RedHat Linux for over a year, even if Windows 2000 was a free alternative, BizRelations would willingly shell out the money for Linux.
Linux Links
Salon take a look at free wireless TCP/IP networks in the US. The originators see it as an extension of the Open-Source/Free-Software ethos.
ZD-Net take an in-depth look at running Linux on laptops. (For anyone wanting to turn their shiny new toy into a real computer!)
Newsforge comment on Bruce Perens' move to HP as head of the company's Linux and open-source strategies. This is being touted as the first Open-Source foray into the upper echelons of Big Business
East Bay Express looks at a life in a TelCo call centre. Makes you look a bit differently at those frustrating periods on hold.
Some links courtesy of Slashdot:
The Linuxcare support Database is available online if you have some problems you need solutions for.
OS Opinion take a look at the difficulties with complicated software, in particular the ramifications of OSX's UNIX/BSD heritage.
Some highlights from Linux Weekly News:
KDE 2.0.1
KDE have announced release of KDE 2.0.1. The official announcement is available here.
There is also a KDE Beta available for download.
XFree86 4.0.2
XFree86 have released XFree86 4.0.2, and the Duke of URL has posted a review . Highlights include ATI Radeon support.
For the official news, refer to the XFree86 news section. Before you actually download or use this you will also probably want to check out the Release Notes
Smart Batteries
SoftTools Technology, Inc. has announced their new Linux Smart Battery System Software Suite (Linux SBS3). The Linux SBS3 is a complete software solution for Portable systems that provides support for systems that incorporate Smart Battery System components under Linux. A User Friendly applet with a GUI for multiple smart batteries and/or regular batteries that read and provide accurate information to the user is also available.
Free Download of Configuration Management System Elego ComPact
The establishment of elego Software Solutions GmbH has been announced in Berlin. The new company specializes in software configuration management (SCM), and offers a wide range of support, service, and general consulting in the area of configuration management (CM).
Elego ComPact is a full-featured configuration management (CM) system based on the well-known and reliable version control system CVS. Elego ComPact extends CVS capabilities by adding new functions and concepts, including build management and component model. Elego ComPact may be used freely for all non-commercial purposes; commercial users must obtain a license.
Elego ComPact claims to add missing features and concepts to the basic CVS system:
You may download a current development snapshot of Elego ComPact for evaluation purposes or free private use via FTP or HTTP from their download page.
For more information see www.elego-software-solutions.com
VMware Enters Server Market
PALO ALTO, Calif., December 5, 2000 - VMware, Inc.. For the latest VMware press releases, check out: www.vmware.com/news/.
VMware have made a number of announcements around two new server products:
WARP Aim to Improve Web Performance
NEW YORK, NY * November 1, 2000 * WARP Solutions, Inc., providers of Web infrastructure software for the area of optimum performance of Internet applications, have launched the WARP Performance Suite, initially consisting of WARP Intelligent Content Distributor, WARP Global Load Balancer and WARP Load Balancer. Additional products - - WARP Dynamic Content Director, WARP Cache Master and WARP Secure - - are being rolled out on an individual basis during the fourth quarter and early next year. This suite of modules aim to enhance web-server performance with emphasis on "performance, reliability, scalability, security, speed and interoperability". WARP's initial launch will run on Solaris, Compaq Tru64 and Linux platforms.
ACCESS Introduces Linux-based Browser Development Kit
MILPITAS, Calif./TOKYO, Japan - December 11, 2000 - ACCESS Co., Ltd. introduced a NetFront 2.6 Linux Software Development Kit (SDK) for the worldwide market. This should speed the integration of ACCESS' popular NetFront browser into Linux-based Internet appliances and other non-PC applications.
Since its introduction in 1995, NetFront browsers have been shipped in over 18 million embedded devices from 40 manufacturers. NetFront is an ideal browser for Internet TVs, PDAs (personal digital assistants), set-top boxes, car navigation systems, smart phones, web/screen phones, vertical Internet terminals, video game consoles and Internet kiosks.
The browser kernel is less than 270 KB of code and fits in 1.3 megabytes of ROM and 2 megabytes of RAM. It supports the full HTML 3.2 specification and selected portions of HTML 4.0. It supports frames, JavaScript, cookies, web printing and multilingual capabilities.
This SDK lets developers customize the user interface to their desired look and feel and add plug-in applications tailored for specific applications. NetFront version 2.6 SDK for Linux will be available as a full source code package. The SDK includes the NetFront version 2.6 browser kernel, a sample user interface module and PIM suite, the Internet mail module, a sample library for peer interface layer and graphics layer (GTK/SDL), and documentation. An SDK with five-seat development license is available for $40,000 including three months support.
Linux-Based Intranet Broadcast Solutions
The first system offered by the alliance is a Linux-based server solution, providing users a viable means to stream broadcast-quality transmissions. It includes 2netFX's StreamRider client and ThunderCast/IP server software and Zapex's ZL-330 encoder with Dolby digital audio and MPEG-2 video. It is the first encoder of its type to achieve Dolby certification for Linux operating systems, and it eliminates inherent lip-sync issues by providing Transport Stream multiplexing within the Zapex encoder.
The ZL-330 produces high quality video images at low bit rates. "The resulting low-bandwidth video stream from the ZL-330 permits an unlimited number of users to access a multicast video," says Gary Marsh, Zapex vice president of sales and marketing. "Coupled with the 2netFX software, PC users can interactively select which programming they wish to view, then capture and store the video locally. Effectively, customers can select their own viewing schedules, depending on application."
Linux2order.com
Fox On Linux
Fox on Linux is a commercial Linux application, providing businesses with a sophisticated, graphical software package to deal with their core financial accounting needs. Fox on Linux can be integrated with other corporate front-end applications and comes with online support and training. Flexible in its operation, multi-user, and with a 12KBS low bandwidth requirement it can be accessed over the Internet. Installation is claimed to be easy, so a system can be up and running in a very short time. For further briefing or a chance to trial Fox on Linux software go to www.foxonlinux.com.
Other Software
The Answer Gang
Baffled
A rather unique query (I hope)
info needed --or--
Linux Installation question
Abt.. Michael Lauzon's Q in issue 60.. --or--
minimum configuration Linux ? --or--
a question --or--
linux question
Red Hat 7.0 Crackerz!
Transmitting PaperPort files with .max
Definitely some Windows file format
Help Me Delete Linux
Removing Linux: Sacrilege!
uninstall linux --or--
setting root password
I can't seem to write to my vfat (Windoze) file system with any user other than root.
For Jim Dennis...Hello from South Texas --or--
Something comparable to Services in NT
Editing fstab file for tape backup
Mail gets nowhere?
Loading SuSE Linux 6.4 via NFS
RE: classified disk
multiple subnets, one DNS
Linux vs. DESQview??? --or--
DOS partition from Linux
e-mails not getting through
exit X & shutdown --or--
Multiplexing ppp connections
[Tony@thermo-king.com: new to Linux]
Trident Providia 9685
The New network On The BLock
Mail Daily sylog message to remote e-mail
automation for minicom --or--
About Epson Stilus Color 670 --or--
Xwindows
diald on a smoothwall box
...a bulk friendly ISP?
Greetings from Heather SternHello everyone, and welcome once again to The Answer Gang. As the fog starts to lift this morning I am enjoying the fluffy greyness and savoring a good cup of coffee. I leave it entirely to your imagination whether I'm talking about the weather or my clouded thoughts.
We have some really juicy threads this month and I hope you like them. I'd like to encourage anybody who feels like asking us questions, to consider the following guidelines:
Spam seems to be down this month, and I don't think we got any non-computing
questions this time around. Must be a Christmas present
It's a new year and I look forward to some interesting New Year's resolutions. In past years I've made selections such as 1600x1200 (the year I got the beautiful monitor I use daily) and 600 dpi (a printer, of course)...
BaffledFrom Patrick Green
Answered By Jim Dennis
James I am at a loss here so I thought I would give you a try. I exited out of a root session (not su) and I go back a couple hours later to login. I enter my user name and lo and behold, no password prompt. So I cold boot it (hate that) comes back up just fine, go to login ...no password prompt. Any ideas?
If that doesn't work, get out a rescue diskette or CD. Remember Tom's (http://www.toms.net/rb).
Once you've done that try to confirm that your /etc/passwd, /etc/group and various /etc/pam.d files are sane. They should "look right" (if you've seen copies before).
If you have backups of your /etc/passwd and /etc/group files, restore them to an alternate location (/tmp) and run diff on them. See if the differences seem reasonable.
If this is an RPM based system try the rpm -Va command to verify the integrity of your /bin/login and other binaries. (If you have a full tar backup of your root and /usr filesystems you can use the 'tar df' or 'tar dzf' directives to report on differences between your current files and those in your backup.
If you're running Debian there are several ways to check the integrity of your files; none of them is as easy to explain and/or type as rpm -Va (that's one of the very few deficiencies in the apt and dpkg systems). You can run debsums or tripwire or aide if you have any of them --- but that's probably a matter of closing the barn door while the horses are already astray in this case.
There is a possibility that your /bin/login program is corrupt or that an attacker has compromised your system and attempted to replace /bin/login (or some other files) with a broken version (perhaps linked against some library you don't have even just having the wrong permissions or something like that).
Of course I'd also check the /var/log/messages and related files to see if there are any clues in there; do a fsck on your root filesystem, try to run /bin/login from a rescue shell prompt, etc. You can even temporarily replace /bin/login with a one-line wrapper script. Rename it to login.binary or some such an write a shell script like:
The Mailbag! #!/bin/sh
exec /usr/sbin/strace -o /tmp/login.strace/$$.out /bin/login.binary
... then try to login (rebooting as necessary, or just start a shell on one of your virtual console with an appropriate line in your /etc/inittab files).
It's an unusual problem, but these sorts of techniques will help you narrow down what's happening.
(Obviously your kernel, your root filesystem and the init program are working. Your getty seems to be working enough to display an "issue" file and accept a username. So we've already narrowed it down to getty and login --- either getty is failing to successfully execute the login command, or the login command is failing to emit a password prompt. Since the latter is somewhat more likely we focus on it.)
A rather unique query (I hope)From Karen Gartner
Answered By Ben Okopnik, Mike Orr
Running RH 7 - Dell Precision 420, 18GB SCSI HD @ 10K rpm, 1 CD-ROM, 1 CD-RW, 19" screen w. Diamond Fire GL1 video card and therein is the start of my problem.
The latest version of the Diamond fire GL1 driver for linux will only work with kernel 2.2.14. RH 7 uses 2.2.16 so I have to backtrack to an earlier kernel in order to use Gnome & KDE (I'm stuck in consoleland right now).
Indeed I have installed the new (old?) kernel but on booting, only 1 scsi
host is recognized where there should be 3, there's an IDE recognition
problem, and ultimately I get the message "kernel panic: VFS: unable to
mount root fs 08:02". I have checked lilo.conf and all is well there.
At least your panic message has the word "root" in it. When it happens to me, I get a cryptic "unable to open initial VC" (=virtual console) or something like that. Because displaying a login: prompt requires a virtual console, which requires a device in the /dev/ directory, which requires a root partition to be mounted.
If it's a kernel that someone else compiled, I would definitely check the configuration... scratch that. I would not use a custom-compiled kernel while bringing up a new system in the first place. I recommend that you don't either.
By the way, are you certain that you should see 3 SCSI hosts, rather than three SCSI devices? There is a difference, and it's an important one. The host adapters are interfaces between the PC and the SCSI devices; it would be exceedingly rare (if even possible) to find three of them in one system.
(You can also look in the /dev/MAKEDEV script, because this is the script that made all those device files. However, I find it harder to read.)ls /dev|grep "8, *2 "Note also that there are two types of devices, "block" and "character". Disk drives are block devices. The same major number may be assigned to one block device and a different character device.
What I would like to do is take the config file from 2.2.16 and copy it
to 2.2.14. Everything but the video card works tickety boo in 2.2.16. The
problem is, where do I find the config file from 2.2.16? 2.2.14 is in
usr/src/linux of course, which was created on the install, but where does
the old .config file reside?
Is that even a good idea to solve the issue? Any and all help is mightily appreciated.
"/usr/src/kernel-source-<version>/.config"
What is Linux?From David Cruz
Answered By Mike Orr, Heather Stern
i live in south africa and find it hard to source help from anyone here.i recently saw a friend how is running his pc on linux software.very impressive.i myself have windows 2000,which works well but when it comes to graphics and proffessional look you're way ahead.i've been trying hard searching the net for the last week for your softwear but came up with nothing.
http://www.linuxresources.com , sections:
- "What is Linux"?
- "About Linux distributions" (general information)
- "Linux distributions" (information about each major distribution)
- "GLUE" (look for a Linux users group in South Africa)
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/META-FAQ.html This is the Linux Meta-HOWTO, which gives an overview of where to find different kinds of Linux information.
http://www.linuxdoc.org Home site for Linux documentation. Click on "mirrors" and find a mirror in South Africa to read; it will be faster and cheaper than using the USA server.
http://www.linuxnewbie.org A site dedicated to helping new Linux users and those who just want to see what Linux is before deciding whether to run it.
http://www.linuxstart.com A site which tries to be a "user-friendly index of Linux information".
.the one thing i
found incredible was your screensavers- radar, bumps(the blue torch
searching in the dark,compass
I don't use screensavers; I prefer to make the screen go black and switch to power-saving mode. If I want to watch "eye candy", I'll run an application which does this. Fortunately, xscreensaver screen savers can also be run as applications in their own windows, not just as screen savers.
Gnome uses a GTK based front end to xscreensaver, which shows a number of these sorts of descriptions, including for the extras (it mentions their homesites, so you know where to get them from. Maybe handy even if you hate Gnome?) I have to say it was useful when I was trying to decide which modules to not bother using. I don't really like the idea of a truly random screen toy, as some of these artsy things are just plain ugly.
I don't remember what K uses. Anyways asking whether a given module is in xscreensaver or in xlockmore is a lost cause. The two are always in a race and at any given time, both have lots of cool eye candy, and a lot of it is GPL so you could port it if you felt like. You can have both installed, but only run one or the other at a time.
Linux Installation questionFrom Layne Gossett
Answered By Mike Orr, Heather Stern
Is there an option for specifying that I would like to be prompted for all of the kernel options during installation, much like you get when building your own kernel?
You cannot set the compile-time options (=the "make menuconfig" options) at boot time. However, there are lots and lots of other kernel options you can set from the LILO: promit or by adding an
append="myoption1 myoption2=myvalue1,myvalue2"
line in /etc/conf.lilo and re-running lilo. See the Bootprompt-HOWTO for all the options you can set. http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/BootPrompt-HOWTO.html
Some other options can be set at runtime via the /proc filesystem. For instance,
echo 1 >/proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward
will turn on IP forwarding. Echoing a zero will turn it off. Documentation for these files is in the appropriate subsystems' docs and HOWTOs. (And actually, most are not documented very well.)
Although I have read the HOWTOs on building my own kernel, I still have not
been able to get it to work out yet. I've had a lot of luck installing Red
Hat from the CD, but I'd like to have firewalling and IP Masq capabilities
from a "clean" installation (and remove things like PCMCIA, etc.).
/sbin/modprobe ip_masq_ftp # Only neded if masquerading non-passive FTP.
echo "1" > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward # Turn on IP forwarding.
/sbin/ipchains -M -S 7200 10 160 # Debian default timeouts.
/sbin/ipchains -P forward DENY # Deny any other kinds of forwarding.
/sbin/ipchains -A forward -s 10.0.0.0/8 -j MASQ
# Masquerade from the 10.0.0.0 network to the outside world.
Try running these commands manually and see if you can get masquerading working with your current kernel.
For more security, you can build a more elaborate set of ipchains rules. (Note: ipchains requires a 2.2.x kernel, which I assume is what you have.)
Tell me about the K guysFrom Manoj Warrier
Answered By Heather Stern, Mike Orr
Dan is right. Use one of the user friendly, mouth feeding distros and U stay a newbie unless U make a habit of reading the Linux Gazette and Linux Journal articles out of curiosity as to what happens under the hood...
But, my ears picked up at Heather's comment -> "I think the K guys have the right idea, writing a front end that deals with more than one package type". It sounds exactly like something I need. We are compiling a set of software (most of the links provided at "http://Scilinux.freeservers.com") which we think go into making an Enviornment for scientific computing on Linux. We plan to make a CDROM by April 2001 (GPL) with the sources / RPMs / other binaries and have a Tcl/Tk interface to install these on a existing Linux/GNU PC. We are still wondering if there is "a front end GUI that can deal with more than 1 pacakage type".
If you're going to write your own GUI, definitely take a look at alien, the packaging APIs, and the apps which already exist to deal with these package types alone. Just make sure not to mix licenses in any incompatible ways...
So who are this K guys? KDE develoment team? ...
... to which Manoj replies ...
Hi and thanks,
Elaborating more on my task at hand,
Work to be done -> Create a CDROM with scientific software which can be installed on a PC already running Linux.
Problem faced -> There are various distros of Linux, various versions of Linux software, therefore a binary which works on one may not work on the other.
Policy -> Do not want to creae another distro of Linux (Linux from
scratch is the way to do it ... am I right??) on which we can then
make pre-compiled binaries.
Therefore plan -> Have the sources, binaries (*.rpm, slackware *.tgz,
*.deb, etc..) on a CDROM and have a Tcl/Tk script to install your
choice. The script would try to compile the sources for your Linux
distro if none of the binaries packed with the CDROM works for you.
I realise that a script that compiles from source for your distro of
linux will take a loooooot of time, and it is close to impossible
to make it work for all distros .. SO ANY IDEAS??
You can use them anyway, and keep all your known support libraries in a little link farm, or something. Probably don't even need hardlinks.
Why go into it at all -> At my Institute (Insttute for plasma research,
Ahmedabad, India) we have a lot of ppl using Linux and most of them
do not have Octave, Scilab, Numerical libraries, yorick, xfig, lyx,
AbiWord, pvm, mpich, ftncheck, etc. etc. etc... on thier Linux PCs.
It would be convinient to therefore have a CDROM which would install
these on thier PCs.
Another problem is getting started using these new
software. Detailed 100+page manuals are very useful after you get
started. therefore we have plans of short getting started guides for
these software. I guess there are other people who also might find
such a CDROM useful. Thats why we started this.
Meanwhile Ill be exploring alien and kpackage. kpackage would probably
need the underlying libraries ... Not everybody has this.
Which leads me to ask -> Dont youll think fondly
about the window manager which you could work on within 5 seconds
of typing "startx" at your console on your 16 MB RAM 486? This
could be a silly sentiment ...
Thanks once again.
Manoj
Then there was this great - user friendly OS which overwrote your MBR whenever you installed it...
Data Recovery Vendor Seeks Linux BasicsFrom Support
Answered By Jim Dennis, Mike Orr
I wonder if you could point me to a FAQ that would answer the following question:
We are a small company specializing in Data Recovery. HardDisk "crashes" and the like.
We have a client that used a network Disk Drive from a company called NETGEAR. It appears that they have built their product round Linux (The good news !)
It took a week to recover. We were between sysadmins and didn't have a backup, because our disk capacity was 2 GB but our tape drive had not kept pace -- it was still a measly 250 MB model. A guest sysadmin from the hospital-wide pool came, did the standard bindery tests (akin to fsck), called a couple consultants who didn't help, called a CNE but didn't engage him since he wouldn't have done more than we'd already done--but would have charged $50 anyway!
We discovered that disk mirroring is not always a good thing. The mirror drive was supposed to be our backup. And it did backup well: it backed up the corrupted data!
The sysadmin noted my comments about the hard drive making noises, and wrote in a report, "It done sound like a car need bearings." We sent the drive to OnTrack; they took it apart, charged $2000, and sent back a tape containing all the files they could recover. Out of all the consultants and CNEs we called, they were the only competent ones in this whole process. They also sent back an amusing analysis report: "Severe hard drive damage. Drive should be replaced." Duh!
We replaced both drives, because the other one was acting up too. Both were part of a bad Maxtor batch that were causing problems in other parts of the hospital as well. They had 12-month warranties, and the drives were failing in the 11th or 13th months.
Thus far, we have regrettably no experience of Linux. I wish to
Install a minimum configuration of Linux on a Win98 test PC in
order that i may copy the data on their (undamaged) harddisk to
another FAT32 harddisk and thereafter backup to CD's.
Right now i'm downloading 2 * 675Mb of "Linux" in ISO format. I doubt that i need 10% of it for this task, but i have no knowledge of the required files to get a minimal system running. Is there an FAQ that would explain to a willing but uneducated guy, how to proceed.
1. how to install a minimum version of Linux
It would also be difficult, even if you had provided this information, since it requires essentially a chapter length exposition.
http://www.toms.net/rb
However, I echo Jim's statement that you need to know the basics of Linux utilities in order to do an effective data transfer. Many people have had to embark on an unanticipated self-taught crash course, but it means spending a weekend with the HOWTOs and manual pages or a book.
2. how to copy files from a Linux Partition on one disk to a fat 32
partition on a second disk.
mkdir /mnt/netgear mkdir /mnt/windows mount -t ext2 /dev/hdb1 /mnt/netgear mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /mnt/windows cd /mnt/netgear && cp -ax . /mnt/windows
... this assumes that you have installed Linux unto your first IDE drive (the master on the primary controller) which is called /dev/hda under Linux. It therefore assumes that the hard drive which you've extracted from the Netgear NAS unit is the second IDE drive (slave on the primary IDE controller) which is called /dev/hdb under Linux. This all presumes that you made the necessary changes to the pin settings on your hard drives to get the hardware working.
I also assume that you're using a SCSI disk (though you could use a third or fourth IDE drive --- or even a fifth, sixth, etc). /dev/sda is the first SCSI hard drive on any normal Linux system (though this may change in the future, with devfs).
So, this example makes many assumptions about how you've installed Linux and what hardware you have available. There are MANY other ways to do this.
Other than that the example basically makes a pair of mountpoints (places at which filesystem can be connected), mounts the Netgear drive to one and the Win '9x drive/filesystem to another changes to the top of the netgear directory tree and copies everything on that filesystem (recursively) unto the VFAT partition.
Note: I'm also assuming that the Netgear is not functioning as a NAS and that you're removing the hard disk from it and connnecting it to one of your lab machines. That seems pretty obvious to me, since you'd just attach to it via the network directly from a Win '9x/NT box if the NAS services were working; right?
I'm also assuming that Netgear is using ext2 (the dominant Linux native filesystem). If they're using Reiserfs or some other filesystem --- then you'd have to do things a bit differently. If that is the case; you'd be best advised to use the SuSE distribution which already includes support for Reiserfs --- otherwise you'd have to patch and build your own custom kernels; which is not a task to be undertaken by novices.
(S.u.S.E. is the only major distribution that already supports Reiserfs. Netgear might have patched their system to support it given that Reiserfs' "journaling" features would be very desirable on any Linux-based headless NAS device!)
3. Am i inventing work unnecessarily. maybe there exist tools to
read Linux partitions and copy DATA to Fat32. Something in the
Style of Partition magic ( but to actually COPY files.)
It would probably be best to buy a nice large hard drive (6Gb or better), put it in one of your lab workstations, install Linux from CD (I prefer Debian; but S.u.S.E. might be more to your liking --- S.u.S.E. is the most popular distribution in Europe and has very good support for various continental languages).
Once you have Linux installed and the Netgear drive attached you can "dump" a raw (bitwise) image of the entire drive into a single Linux file using a command like:
dd if=/dev/hdb of=/some/path/with/lots/of/free/space bs=1024k
... or you could dump each filesystem/partition by using the commands:
fdisk -l /dev/hdb
... and then (for each of the partitions listed there: let's say it's 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6; skipping 4 since it might/would be the extended partiton container:
for i in 1 2 3 5 6; do
dd if=/dev/hdb$i of=/lots-of-space/netgear-image.hdb$i.bin
done
(This last is a bit fancy for a novice. However, you can just type the commands one at a time until that little snippet of shell code makes sense). (Obviously you'll need to put in your own names in place of the of= paths that I've listed here).
NOTE: if the netgear filesystems are larger than 2Gb then you might need a very new kernel with LFS (large filesystem support) or you could use "raw" partitions (unallocated space) on your new large Linux disk.
This "dd" approach is handy if you want to preserve a full snapshot of the filesystem (in it's damaged state) before attempting data recovery. That way, if your filesystem check and repair efforts cause more damage you can always start from scratch.
In general I'd say that there is way too much about Linux to learn before you'd understand how to do filesystem or data recovery. As I'm sure you know from your experience with FAT/VFAT/FAT32 based filesystems, one must generally be expert in an OS prior to being competant at data recovery under it.
I would be most grateful for any advice you could offer.
My best Christmas greetings from Sweden,
Tony Kvarnstrom
Linux, UNIX, what's the difference?From Alex
Answered By Heather Stern
Hi, I have a question that's been on my mind lately. I've looked around the web and gotten some roundabout answers. The question is, what is Linux?
Where's that message where Linus recounts how his first success in building Linux was to develop a multitasker that allowed one process to write "a" repeatedly to the screen while another process wrote "b"? I think in there it mentions that one of his early names for the system, when he was in an extremely frustrated mood, was Buggix.
The most popular answer on the net seems to be "Linux
is a UNIX-like OS". Well, then what is UNIX? And why
isn't Linux UNIX?
The trademark began life as AT&T Bell Labs UNIX, and has been traded and sold a number of times since. For a while Novell owned it ... in fact, for a brief time it looked like Novell could become the source of a new, completely non Microsoft based system, because they had Netware, they had DR DOS, they had WordPerfect and its family of apps... but they either didn't see it or had so many internal politics they couldn't do it.
The current trademark holders are the Open Group. Their babble about rights to use their trademark is at: http://www.unix-systems.org/trademark.html
Anyways, UNIX shouldn't be used as a generic term, because that's against the principles of trademark. Let me illustrate with an example that a few more people will understand. You can't call something Coca-Cola (http://www.coca-cola.com) that's not. You're not supposed to call it Pepsi either (http://www.pepsi.com, but you can't use the site at all from lynx; try their investor relations site, http://www.pepsico.com instead) unless it's really Pepsi. But you can call it a "Coca-Cola like soda" or say something "tastes kinda like Pepsi" and you're safest with "a cola" or "a soda pop". For the curious out there, I drink either, but prefer RC (http://www.rccola.com).
So Linux is "an operating system" which only "tastes like MS Windows" if you select a window manager with a theme that tries really hard to do that, but tends to "taste like UNIX". Admittedly it tastes a bit more like these if you go the extra mile and run WINE or have the iBCS compatability module around so you could try to run the respective binaries.
http://www.lwn.net/2000/1221
Is AIX or Solaris or SunOS or HP-UX a UNIX?
I don't think SunOS ever got so blessed; it was a BSD derivitive after all. You can read some about the confusions between SunOS and Solaris in this handy note: http://www.math.umd.edu/~helpdesk/Online/GettingStarted/SunOS-Solaris.html
If so, what makes them a UNIX and Linux not
a UNIX? Is it kernel specific? What's the deal?
linux questionFrom Ted Mims
Answered By Dan Wilder
I hope you can help me out. I am running a box with Linux 6.0. I had a hacker a few weeks ago that primarily set up some shielded irc channels and modified my dns for his needs (exactly what they were, I am not sure). Anyway, somehow he made it so that my securetty file is ignored. I am having no luck locking root out of telnet. securetty has the correct format and permissions and pam_securetty.so is not commented in the /etc/pam.d/login file. Do you happen to have any suggestions? All I want to do is re-restrict direct-in root access. I would greatly appreciate any elightenment you can offer. Thanks
Ted H. Mims
Unfortunately, once a system is compromised, you can't trust the pieces. The skilful cracker, or even the less skilled in this day of script kiddees, will have replaced system binaries such as /bin/login, /bin/ls, /bin/ps, and on and on. This places you in a shifting hall of mirrors when you attempt repair on a running system. Especially if you attempt this repair while the system is connected to the network. I know very few sysadmins who would be up to this challenge, fewer still who would be assured of success, and almost none who would attempt it except on a wager or as a sport. I would be the last to suggest you attempt this based on a few pointers.
The prudent course of action is a fresh install on a new hard drive. Do this on a system without any connection to an outside network.
Upgrade named. http://www.isc.org/products/BIND is the URL. Use bind-8.2.2 patchlevel 7 for an easy upgrade from what's on most 6.0 distributions. Or, see if the ftp site for your distribution has an upgrade. Eight bugs, including one allowing remote exploit and providing the attacker with full access at whatever privilege level named runs at, have been located in older versions of bind.
Eliminate all services the system does not need, by turning them off in /etc/inetd.conf or the equivalent xinetd config files.
Establish secure passwords for all accounts.
At that point, take the hard drive from the old system and mount it for example on /mnt. Copy valuable data from the old hard drive to the new. Examine all configuration files you may copy over carefully.
Don't allow telnet from remote systems. The password is transmitted in plaintext, not a very good idea in this age of sniffers.
Consider instead installing ssh or openssh, if remote access is needed, or if you're on a LAN with more than a handful of hosts or with users who are not highly trusted employees. Be aware that even ssh is not 100% proof against "man in the middle" compromise.
<digression> That "6.0" doesn't mean much if you don't specify the distribution, for example "Red Hat" or "SuSE" Each Linux distribution maintains its own versioning system, with only very rough equivalence between distributions. </digression>
.... Ted found the breakage ...
I just needed to actually pen the question to someone. I figured it out
all by my lonesome. Thanks anyway. He had bypassed pam and sent it
back to the login.defs file which of course did not have a CONSOLE
directive.
Ted H. Mims
Red Hat 7.0From George Hawthorn
Answered By Ben Okopnik, Heather Stern
Answer Guy,
I've searched every Linux site I can find to understand why after months of trouble free operation, I am unable to login to my RH 7.0 server at the terminal. Everything is working fine, web server, ftp, router but I simply cannot login as root or anybody else for that matter. I can do a 'linux single' boot but under a normal boot, when I get the login: prompt and type root, I'm back at the login prompt again. I realize this is an imposition, but I'm getting desperate.
Thanks for your time,
George Hawthorn
root:1XaFDYn7EapuP:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
Chop out the second field:
root::0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
When you next log in as "root", you won't need a password - just make sure to create one immediately. If you still cannot log in, then something in the system itself is giving you problems; once again, refer to the above article.
As to reasons why this happened in the first place: well, the scary-but- obvious reason could be that some "script-kiddie" got into your system and did a dance on it. Not to panic; as long as you've got good backups, the damage can be undone (and if you're running a publicly accessible server and _don't_ have backups, I'm afraid you've gone beyond any help I can give.) It could also be that some program you've installed - and I haven't heard of anything like this with progs from established distributions, whereas just slapping in a random tarball could do this - has messed up your libraries or other vital files.
In my experience with Linux, I've come to an expectation that I did not have with MS Windows or OS/2 - "stuff" doesn't just happen. There is a reason for this; whether a security problem caused by random services enabled in "/etc/inetd.conf" (I strongly suggest reading the Security-HOWTO if you have not done so previously) or a problematic program installation, you need to track it down and resolve it. Particularly in the case of a break-in, it is not something you want to happen again.
Good luck
... George adds some context ...
Ben,
Thanks so much for the speedy reply. I'm going to read through your e-mail very carefully. I can tell you that I've done nothing to the server for months accept FTP files to it, Telnet to it, add a couple of users etc. It's been running perfectly since August of this year, and so I "think" I can rule out my actions as the cause. I haven't installed any additional programs. As for the security issue, this was and still is my immediate concern. I wonder if someone has got in and done "something". I did see a couple of bad login attempts using lastb. I do have copies of ALL important files, and so could simply reinstall the OS, but then I'd be no better off...just waiting for it to happen again. Thanks once again for your help. I'll let you know if I find the cause.
... then following Ben's advice, investigates more carefully ...
Ben,
Following your article in issue #52, I looked at /bin/login (using linux
single) and noticed that it is owned by root and lp (have no idea what lp is
...sounds like a print queue).
I booted up another pc with RH 7.0 and
noticed that its /bin/login ownership is root and root. I tried chown
root.root login, but get the 'permission denied response'. I also edited
/etc/shadow with no luck. I agree with your theory that reinstalling
teaches you nothing. My master plan was to FTP the login "program" from a
working pc to the server in the hope that login is somehow corrupted on the
server.
I rebooted the server using the linux single command, and then SU to login
as root. I was scrolling through previous commands and was surprised to see
many commands that I didn't enter. Someone created a user called "Poped" as
far as I can tell, and then entered commands such as
rm -f /bin/login chattr -i /bin/login
It would seem that someone gained access. What do you t