Changing passwords, sometimes works, sometimes doesn't

Salvador Salanova Fortmann salvador.salanova at pas.udg.es
Wed Mar 3 12:06:52 GMT 1999


Hi,

I am very sorry if this is FAQ, but I have searched through the
archives, the documentation and even asked in a newsgroup, and heve not
been able to get an answer.

I am running Linux redHat 5.1 kernel 2.0.34, I have installed samba
2.0.2 and 2.03 (in order to see if the problem went away) on an HP LCII
with 128Mb ram and Scsi adaptec 2940  with 3 discs.

I have set up about 900 acounts, and the users are going to connect from
win3.1,win9X to winNT(SP0-SP4) and from different domains and
workgroups, and putting my hands on those PCs is not possible.
So I decided to set up samba with encrypted passwords, password
synchronization, and in share level,.

I have compiled and installed samba without a single problem, users can
log in from every kind of windows.

When comes time to make some tests I discover that some users can change
their passwords and some cannot.
First, I supposed that there was a problem either with the password file
or the smbpassword file, and checked for missing fields, strange
characters.
The command I want the users to use is "smbpassword -r machine -U user".

What confuses me most is the fact that some users can change their
passwords and some cannot.

At this point I decided to make some traces,  which make me think there
is a problem talking to the /bin/passwd program, in any case I have not
been able to get past this point.

In the archives I found somone with a similar problem ( Simon McCartney
on 12  Feb 1999) but no answer to that.

Traces and smb.conf follow.

-A user that cannot change his password
----------------------------------------------

[1999/03/03 12:45:45, 3] smbd/chgpasswd.c:chat_with_program(370)
  Dochild for user mllo739e (uid=0,gid=0)
[1999/03/03 12:45:45, 10] smbd/chgpasswd.c:dochild(190)
  Invoking '/usr/bin/passwd mllo739e' as password change program.
[1999/03/03 12:45:46, 100] smbd/chgpasswd.c:talktochild(264)
  talktochild: chatbuf=[*ew*password*] responsebuf=[New UNIX password: ]

[1999/03/03 12:45:46, 100] smbd/chgpasswd.c:talktochild(277)
  talktochild: sendbuf=[k4k4tu3s
  ]
[1999/03/03 12:45:46, 100] smbd/chgpasswd.c:talktochild(264)
  talktochild: chatbuf=[*etype*ew*password*] responsebuf=[
  Retype new UNIX password: ]
[1999/03/03 12:45:46, 100] smbd/chgpasswd.c:talktochild(277)
  talktochild: sendbuf=[k4k4tu3s
  ]
[1999/03/03 12:45:50, 100] smbd/chgpasswd.c:talktochild(264)
  talktochild: chatbuf=[*succes*] responsebuf=[]
<<********* This looks WRONG
[1999/03/03 12:45:50, 3] smbd/chgpasswd.c:talktochild(267)
  response 3 incorrect
[1999/03/03 12:45:50, 3] smbd/chgpasswd.c:chat_with_program(317)
  Child failed to change password: mllo739e
[1999/03/03 12:45:50, 3] smbd/chgpasswd.c:chat_with_program(348)
  The process exited while we were waiting
[1999/03/03 12:45:50, 5] smbd/ipc.c:copy_trans_params_and_data(150)
  copy_trans_params_and_data: params[0..2] data[0..0]
[1999/03/03 12:45:50, 5] lib/util.c:show_msg(459)
  size=60

-A user who can change his password a couple of minutes
later--------------------------

[1999/03/03 12:45:56, 10] smbd/chgpasswd.c:dochild(190)
  Invoking '/usr/bin/passwd mllo574c' as password change program.
[1999/03/03 12:45:57, 100] smbd/chgpasswd.c:talktochild(264)
  talktochild: chatbuf=[*ew*password*] responsebuf=[New UNIX password: ]

[1999/03/03 12:45:57, 100] smbd/chgpasswd.c:talktochild(277)
  talktochild: sendbuf=[k4k4tu3s
  ]
[1999/03/03 12:45:57, 100] smbd/chgpasswd.c:talktochild(264)
  talktochild: chatbuf=[*etype*ew*password*] responsebuf=[
  Retype new UNIX password: ]
[1999/03/03 12:45:57, 100] smbd/chgpasswd.c:talktochild(277)
  talktochild: sendbuf=[k4k4tu3s
  ]
[1999/03/03 12:45:57, 100] smbd/chgpasswd.c:talktochild(264)
  talktochild: chatbuf=[*succes*] responsebuf=[
  passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully  <<***********
See the difference !!
  ]


Follows smb.conf

# Global parameters
        workgroup = BACKUP
        server string = Servei de Backup
        security = SHARE
        encrypt passwords = Yes
        smb passwd file = /etc/smbpasswd
        passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u
        passwd chat = *ew*password* %n\n *etype*ew*password* %n\n
*succes*
        passwd chat debug = Yes
        password level = 4
        unix password sync = Yes
        log level = 100
        log file = /var/log/samba-log.%m
        socket options = TCP_NODELAY
        load printers = No
        os level = 33
        domain master = Yes
        wins support = Yes
        lock dir = /var/lock/samba
        comment = Servei de BackUp
        strict locking = Yes
        volume = BackUp

[homes]
        comment = Home Directories
        invalid users = root nobody
        valid users = %S
        read only = No
        create mask = 0750
        browseable = No
        exec = /usr/local/scripts/samba/crear_link_web %H %u
        postexec = /usr/local/scripts/samba/crear_link_web %H %u


I will be very gratefull if someone can help me with this, and also do
please send your answers directly to me.

Salvador Salanova Fortmann




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