Help! I wanted to change the shell for root logins. I copied /etc/passwd to /etc/passwd.orig and vi'd the passwd file and changed the shell and home directories for root. I saved the file, logged out of the server and now I can't get back in. I remotely manage this server. Is there anyway to get back in to the box without going onsite and booting single user?
You might be able to get in as another user then "su root".
But if that doesnt work,,,
If its a box with an ALOM then you can telnet to the ALOM address and reboot single user from there.
As an aside, I wouldnt particularly recommend changing root shell or directory.
Log in as a normal user then user su or sudo or RBAC to get root privileges.
> I sincerely doubt that /etc/shells is limited to FTP
> access only. The file defines all "valid user shells"
> on the system. Anyone trying to log into a shell
> that's not listed in the file is going to run into
> problems.
Not on a default installation.
$ ssh testuser@jumpy
testuser@jumpy's password:
Last login: Wed Oct 4 15:35:28 2006 from 10.254.1.6
Could not chdir to home directory /export/home/testuser: No such file or directory
jumpy% echo $SHELL
/bin/oddshell
jumpy% grep testuser /etc/passwd
testuser:x:1008:1:Shell test:/export/home/testuser:/bin/oddshell
jumpy% cat /etc/shells
/bin/bash
/sbin/sh
jumpy% ls -l /bin/oddshell
lrwxrwxrwx1 rootother 3 Oct 4 15:35 /bin/oddshell -> csh
jumpy% id
uid=1008(testuser) gid=1(other)
jumpy% uname -rvp
5.8 Generic_108528-27 sparc
Same behavior on Solaris 10. In addition, while not present in the Solaris 8 manual page, the Solaris 10 manual page has this note.
File Formatsshells(4)
[snip]
Invalid shells in /etc/shells may cause unexpected behavior
(such as being unable to log in by way of ftp(1)).
Non-default authentication schemes in PAM may also read it, but you'd have to modify the system to make that happen.
--
Darren
