Ghost Users

I am having a problem that I cannot figure out. RS6000 server running AIX 5.2. Users connect via TCP/IP and login and work just fine. When the user logs out of the application, I can run the "who" command or "w" command and the O/S still reports the user as logged in.

If I run "ps -tpts/xx" on the port they were on, it returns no processes. If I run "ps -ef|grep username" no processes are returned.

If I reboot the server, the user is removed.

Any ideas?

I would be interested in knowing the answer to your problem also. We are running AIX 4.2 and also have that problem. They do eventually go away though without rebooting.

The answer to your questions is:

Some threads from applications used by the user are kept open even after the user logs off. Some of them have a default auto kill time set and some are not. That varies from OS to OS.
Also, if the user used console, or other x-terms that means that various tty's connections established. UNIX works with proccesses, threads, sessions, tty's.
With the "ps" command you can only see the top level procces.

Also, do a 'netstat -a'

it can help you realise how UDP and sockets are mixed with all the above.

Cheers

Aris :slight_smile: