Thanks for the help on this one. That one gave me just enough information to figure things out.
First, when the login failed, I saw an error message "There are running jobs..." just as the process should have been passed to Universe. That was odd, so I checked the output of the truss command, and it appeared only in the stream of the failed logins. Then I got to thinking, hey, I remember a seldom seen bug in AIX (and a couple of other OSes) where if the PID table because full, and thus had to start at the beginning again, sometimes it wouldn't know a PID wasn't in use any more because it hadn't been cleared from the table correctly, and give some anomalous errors. So, I did 'uptime' and saw they hadn't rebooted the system in 60 days. I used to work for this client and know they have a month-end checklist that includes rebooting the server as part of closing out each month. So, I rebooted the system, and then logged in as 'bob' (the user who captured his screen for us to give things a go), and never once had a failed login after 30 or so attempts. It's been a long time since I was involved so deeply at the OS level of a system, so I really appreciate the help on this one. Karl On Tue, March 23, 2010 5:21 pm, Dan Fitzgerald wrote: > > truss -pdf <pid> will return a listing of every system call the process > makes at the AIX kernel level, as well as any processes forked by the > process (the 'f' option). It's hard to read without a reference like W. > Richard Stevens' "Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment", but if > you see it bomb out right after it fails to open a file, for instance, > that's a good clue. > >> Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:34:35 -0600 >> From: ka...@ourldsfamily.com >> To: u2-users@listserver.u2ug.org >> Subject: Re: [U2] Not Consistent Failure >> >> I've not uses the truss command. Pointers? >> >> They drop to the Unix directory specified in the passwd file. >> >> Karl >> >> >> On Tue, March 23, 2010 3:53 pm, Dan Fitzgerald wrote: >> > >> > One thing you could do is to make that sleep like 30 seconds, find >> that >> > pid, then use the AIX truss command against it while it's sleeping, >> and >> > see what bombs. >> > >> > >> > >> > When they drop to AIX, are they in the directory specified in >> /etc/passwd, >> > or somewhere else? >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> >> Date: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 15:26:16 -0600 >> >> From: ka...@ourldsfamily.com >> >> To: u2-users@listserver.u2ug.org >> >> Subject: [U2] Not Consistent Failure >> >> >> >> When ever I see someone post something that can't be replicated >> because >> >> it's inconsistent, I wonder what the answer is going to be. >> >> >> >> So, here goes: >> >> >> >> I have a client that has started experiencing a login anomaly. First, >> >> the >> >> use telnet, and second, they don't have passwords at the Unix level. >> >> >> >> They are on AIX 5.2.0.0 with Universe 10.2.12 >> >> >> >> The things I've seen are: >> >> >> >> - the session doesn't make it into UV for their password prompt but >> >> drops >> >> straight to Unix. >> >> >> >> - I've checked permissions at various locations and at various >> levels. >> >> >> >> - I've commented out various parts of both /etc/profile and >> >> /u1/ACCT/.profile with no consistent noticeable change. >> >> >> >> - I've checked UV.LOGIN and ACCT > LOGIN as well and nothing has >> changed >> >> in either place, and they are performing minimal tasks. >> >> >> >> - I've added a sleep just before exec /u1/uv/bin/uv plus changed uv >> to >> >> uvsh to see if that mattered. It didn't change the failures. >> >> >> >> - Failures are either on the 2nd login, 4th login, 3rd and 4th, 6th >> and >> >> 7th, 2nd and 3rd and 5th or whenever the pattern can't be matched... >> >> >> >> In other words, there's no rhyme or reason that can be applied to >> this >> >> failure. >> >> >> >> This is a real head-scratcher for me and I'm hoping someone has seen >> >> this >> >> or has something to offer. >> >> >> >> TIA >> >> >> >> --- >> >> Karl Pearson >> >> ka...@ourldsfamily.com >> >> Owner/Administrator of the sites at >> >> http://ourldsfamily.com >> >> --- >> >> "To mess up your Linux PC, you have to really work at it; >> >> to mess up a microsoft PC you just have to work on it." >> >> --- >> >> Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have >> >> for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote. >> >> --Benjamin Franklin >> >> --- >> >> Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually >> >> repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said. >> >> --- >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> U2-Users mailing list >> >> U2-Users@listserver.u2ug.org >> >> http://listserver.u2ug.org/mailman/listinfo/u2-users >> > >> > _________________________________________________________________ >> > Hotmail: Trusted email with powerful SPAM protection. >> > http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/210850553/direct/01/ >> > _______________________________________________ >> > U2-Users mailing list >> > U2-Users@listserver.u2ug.org >> > http://listserver.u2ug.org/mailman/listinfo/u2-users >> > >> >> >> --- >> Karl Pearson >> ka...@ourldsfamily.com >> Owner/Administrator of the sites at >> http://ourldsfamily.com >> --- >> "To mess up your Linux PC, you have to really work at it; >> to mess up a microsoft PC you just have to work on it." >> --- >> Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have >> for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote. >> --Benjamin Franklin >> --- >> Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually >> repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said. >> --- >> >> _______________________________________________ >> U2-Users mailing list >> U2-Users@listserver.u2ug.org >> http://listserver.u2ug.org/mailman/listinfo/u2-users > > _________________________________________________________________ > Hotmail is redefining busy with tools for the New Busy. Get more from your > inbox. > http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID27925::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:032010_2 > _______________________________________________ > U2-Users mailing list > U2-Users@listserver.u2ug.org > http://listserver.u2ug.org/mailman/listinfo/u2-users > --- Karl Pearson ka...@ourldsfamily.com Owner/Administrator of the sites at http://ourldsfamily.com --- "To mess up your Linux PC, you have to really work at it; to mess up a microsoft PC you just have to work on it." --- Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote. --Benjamin Franklin --- Children seldom misquote you. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn't have said. --- _______________________________________________ U2-Users mailing list U2-Users@listserver.u2ug.org http://listserver.u2ug.org/mailman/listinfo/u2-users
