Hi all,
I'm having an issue resetting an Linux user password. As root, I type 'passwd <username>, enter the new password, but the user is still Access Denied. Can someone assist me in figuring this one out?
The box is running "Linux trm62 2.4.21-15.ELsmp #1 SMP Thu Apr 22 00:18:24 EDT 2004 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux"
Is the account locked? Does the user have a shell? What's in the security logs?
How do I check if it's locked?
You need to check the user's entry in the /etc/shadow file :
username:*:14181:0 etc.
Where the "*" is should be a random string of text, the user's encrypted password.
Also check their entry in the /etc/passwd file and ensure they have a usable shell, that is the last field should be something like /bin/bash not /bin/false or /sbin/nologin.
The user does not have an entry in the /etc/passed file. But I can "su -" to that user from root.
I fixed it. I manually added the user in the /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow files and then changed the password. Now the user can log in.
Thanks for the input.
if you added the user to the shadow file, you really should run pwconv.
Also, you should add the user with useradd if possible (for the future, not needed now).