From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Feb 4 06:21:44 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5615316A4CE for ; Wed, 4 Feb 2004 06:21:44 -0800 (PST) Received: from sccrmhc13.comcast.net (sccrmhc13.comcast.net [204.127.202.64]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id EFF5C43D31 for ; Wed, 4 Feb 2004 06:21:42 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from freebsd-questions-local@be-well.ilk.org) Received: from be-well.no-ip.com ([66.30.196.44]) by comcast.net (sccrmhc13) with ESMTP id <200402041421420160018tkee>; Wed, 4 Feb 2004 14:21:42 +0000 Received: by be-well.no-ip.com (Postfix, from userid 1147) id 3D3A011; Wed, 4 Feb 2004 09:21:42 -0500 (EST) Sender: lowell@be-well.ilk.org To: Vince Sabio References: From: Lowell Gilbert Date: 04 Feb 2004 09:21:41 -0500 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <44n07zvsay.fsf@be-well.ilk.org> Lines: 27 User-Agent: Gnus/5.09 (Gnus v5.9.0) Emacs/21.3 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Cannot Add User X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list Reply-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 04 Feb 2004 14:21:44 -0000 Vince Sabio writes: > I just installed a v5.1 single-boot system from CD. So far, the only > changes I've made from the initial installation were to configure > sshd, set the system security level to "moderate" (from "high"), and > set the system clock; other than that, it's a "clean" installation. > > I'm now trying to install Postfix, and the problem I'm running into is > that I cannot create new user accounts. I created several user > accounts during installation, and they seem to be fine. But when I > [manually] create entries in /etc/passwd, master.passwd, and group, > the entries are 'ignored' -- e.g., a "chown [newuser] [filename]" > command fails, attempts to su from root into the user account fail, > etc. When I try to create the user via adduser (using the standard > defaults), the account creation step fails with the following error: > > pw: user '[newuser]' disappeared during update > > Again, attempts to 'access' the user (i.e., chmod, etc.) will > fail. Interestingly, though, if I try to re-create the user, adduser > tells me that the user already exists -- and a check of the relevant > files confirms that the entries are there. It sounds like you've messed up your user database. Try running pwd_mkdb(8) by hand to get it straightened out. In future, remember not to edit passwd and so forth by hand; stick with adduser(8) and/or vipw(8) to avoid shooting yourself in the foot like this.