Re: adding user with passwd file

[Larry Jones]

Rob Davies writes:
> 
> Sorry if this isn't directed towards the correct mailing list. I'm having a 
> problem setting up a new user, using the file 'passwd'. If anyone can offer 
> any suggestions/help it would be greatly appreciated.

Right list, hard to help -- you've "sanitized" your report to the point
where it's very difficult to know what the problem is.  For these kinds
of problems, it's very useful to have the line from the passwd file and
the error message exactly as they appear.

> I have created the file 'passwd' and added the line :
> 
> cvs_username::system_username

Do you literally have no password, or did you just omit it from your
message?  If it's really empty, are you sure your version of CVS
supports that (it's a fairly recent addition)?

> Fatal error, aborting.
> cvs_user: no such user

That implies that the third field in the passwd file is "cvs_user" and
there's no system user by that name (i.e., that username does not appear
in the system /etc/passwd file).

> I get this even though the user geo is added to the file 'passwd'. I am using 
> my username for the cvs server and I have no problem accessing it with this 
> username.

What do you mean by using your username for the cvs server?  Do you mean
that you're having inetd run the server under your userid rather than as
root?  If so, then you must use the CVSROOT/passwd file to map all CVS
users to your system username (which I wouldn't recommend) or it won't
work -- you'll get setuid failures.

-Larry Jones

I've changed my mind, Hobbes.  People are scum. -- Calvin