hi synrat, --- synrat <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I'm setting up a new server for my mail-web-file > server setup. > While I'm not worried about recreating configuration > files for most > servers, I don't know what to do with the users home > directories and > password files. Will it work if I simply add the > contents of the old > password file to password file on the new machine ?? > ( only user names of course ).
yeah that works ... just make sure that the UIDs are not duplicated. > Do I need to worry about shadow > passwords in this case ?? i think it would be best to copy the *users* part of the /etc/shadow as well. one benefit for this is users will enter the same passwords for this new machine (as if its the old one)... they wouldnt even notice they were moved if you kept the same IP/hostname and dont tell them that its a new machine<grin>. also, if you copy only the /etc/passwd file, the users wont be able to login to this machine. their usernames must exist on /etc/shadow. just doing a 'passwd username' for them wont work cause passwd command wont recreate the line on /etc/shadow. well, its a different story for machines with SSH/RSA authentication implemented... but i wont go into that ;-) btw, when i do /home transfers from one machine to another, i copy the /etc/passwd file first (yup, usernames entries only and making sure the UIDs are uniq), then i do the restore from tape or directly from the old machine using ssh/tar. this way, i kept the ownership of the dirs/files intact ... and, using "tar -xfp" i also keep the permissions for the directories and files as well. hth dianne > any advice will be appreciated. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.yahoo.com/
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