[arch-general] user management error

[Magnus Therning]

On Mon, Mar 17, 2014 at 06:25:22PM +0000, message wrote:
> Readers,
> 
> A previously existing /home directory was mounted into the file
> system during the installation process; this directory contained
> files in a directory 'a'.
> 
> A user was created from the root user account:
> 
> useradd -M -p [password] -s /bin/bash [username'a']
> 
> After reboot, the system is restarted as root because the user 'a'
> is stated to not exist. The command 'cat /etc/passwd' reveals a
> password 'x', but this is not the password that was entered.
> 
> How to solve this error?

Log in as `root` on your system, then

1.  Since you have `/home` on a separate partition, check that it is
    properly mounted

      # mount | grep home

2.  Check the ownership of a's home directory

      # ls -lh /home

    a's home directory should show up as being owned by a, with the
    group being a (unless you've modified /etc/login.defs, but if you
    have you already know what the group should be).

3.  Check that the user is set up properly

      # su <username>

    That should let you become your created user.

4.  Change the password for a

      # passwd a

5.  Try to log in as a again.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

/M

-- 
Magnus Therning                      OpenPGP: 0xAB4DFBA4 
email: magnus at therning.org   jabber: magnus at therning.org
twitter: magthe               http://therning.org/magnus

Perl is another example of filling a tiny, short-term need, and then
being a real problem in the longer term.
     -- Alan Kay
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