Date: Thu, 3 Sep 2009 17:54:37 +0200 From: Mel Flynn <mel.flynn+fbsd.questions@mailing.thruhere.net> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Cc: stan <stanb@panix.com> Subject: Re: What invokes cricket on FreeBSD Message-ID: <200909031754.37681.mel.flynn%2Bfbsd.questions@mailing.thruhere.net> In-Reply-To: <20090903154453.GA7688@teddy.fas.com> References: <20090903114857.GA635@teddy.fas.com> <200909031731.45563.mel.flynn%2Bfbsd.questions@mailing.thruhere.net> <20090903154453.GA7688@teddy.fas.com>
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On Thursday 03 September 2009 17:44:53 stan wrote: > On Thu, Sep 03, 2009 at 05:31:45PM +0200, Mel Flynn wrote: > > On Thursday 03 September 2009 16:42:28 stan wrote: > > > On Thu, Sep 03, 2009 at 04:22:43PM +0200, Mel Flynn wrote: > > > > On Thursday 03 September 2009 15:41:07 stan wrote: > > > > > On Thu, Sep 03, 2009 at 09:33:35AM -0400, stan wrote: > > > > > > On Thu, Sep 03, 2009 at 09:22:56AM -0400, stan wrote: > > > > > > > On Thu, Sep 03, 2009 at 01:43:15PM +0100, Matthew Seaman wrote: > > > > > > > > stan wrote: > > > > > > > > > On Thu, Sep 03, 2009 at 07:48:57AM -0400, stan wrote: > > > > > > > > >> I have inherited a system that uses Cricket on FreeBSD to > > > > > > > > >> do some data collection. I have set this up myself in the > > > > > > > > >> distnat past, but this time I asked a contractor to set it > > > > > > > > >> up. I no longer have access to this contractor, and the > > > > > > > > >> toher day, we shut down the system this was running on, > > > > > > > > >> and when we rebooted the system, cricket id not resume > > > > > > > > >> collecting data. > > > > > > > > >> > > > > > > > > >> I don't see anyhting in /usr/local/etc/rc.d to start it > > > > > > > > >> up, nor do I see anything in /etc/crontag. I don't seen > > > > > > > > >> any processes owned by cricket running. > > > > > > > > >> > > > > > > > > >> In FreeBSD, how is this process noramally invoked? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Sorry to reply to my own message, but I have more data. I > > > > > > > > > did find > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -rw------- 1 root wheel 288 Jan 12 2009 > > > > > > > > > /var/cron/tabs/cricke > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Which is, I am failry certain, what is _intended_ to invoke > > > > > > > > > the cricket process. However, acording to the cricket logs, > > > > > > > > > the last time I have an entry is Aug 29th, which was when > > > > > > > > > the machine was shut down. So, I decided to try running > > > > > > > > > this command by hand. Now, to do so I need to be the > > > > > > > > > cricket user, so I tried to su - cricket. I was told that > > > > > > > > > this user was not avaialble. Looking in /etc/passwd. I > > > > > > > > > found that this users shell was listed as > > > > > > > > > /usr/sbin/nologin. I edited /etc/paswd to change this to > > > > > > > > > /nin/sh, but I still get the smae error message when I try > > > > > > > > > to su to that user. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > What do I need to change to be able to su to this suer, and > > > > > > > > > might this be the reason tha it's crontab entry is notbeing > > > > > > > > > run? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Try: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > # su -m cricket > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > although the best way to examine and/or modify that user's > > > > > > > > crontab is: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > # crontab -e -u cricket > > > > > > > > > > > > > > OK, I was able to execute the cricket collector caoomand bu > > > > > > > using the su - format, and it ran corectly. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Cany anyone sugest what to check to see why cron is not > > > > > > > executing this command? I see no evidence of it's running in > > > > > > > either the cricket logs' or cron's logs. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Thanks. > > > > > > > > > > > > Repkying to my own message again :-( > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > OK, I found in the cron man page the following: > > > > > > > > > > > > Before running a command from a per-account crontab file, cron > > > > > > checks the status of the account with pam(3) and skips the > > > > > > command if the account is unavailable, e.g., locked out or > > > > > > expired. > > > > > > > > > > > > So, now the question is, how do I unlock that user? > > > > > > > > > > This gets strnager. I found the pw cammand, which should do thatm > > > > > but: > > > > > > > > > > pnoc# pw unlock cricket > > > > > pw: user 'cricket' is not locked > > > > > > > > > > So, how come: > > > > > > > > > > pnoc# su - cricket > > > > > This account is currently not available. > > > > > > > > Cause cricket doesn't have a valid home directory. However, you can > > > > simply copy the /var/cron/tabs/cricket to /tmp. Remove the time > > > > colums, then run: su -m cricket /usr/bin/env -i HOME=/nonexistent > > > > PATH=/bin:/usr/bin \ /bin/sh /tmp/cricket > > > > > > > > That's the best approximation of how cron runs the commands. If you > > > > don't see anything in the cron logs however, it may be an issue with > > > > the timestamps specified not yielding any runs. Then it would help to > > > > see the actual crontab file. > > > > > > Hmm, but I think it does : > > > > > > pnoc# grep cricket /etc/passwd > > > cricket:*:141:80:Cricket Monitoring > > > User:/usr/local/cricket:/usr/sbin/nologin > > > > /usr/sbin/nologin. I guess you edited master.passwd and didn't use the > > proper tools (vipw or run pwd_mkdb after using a plain editor). > > > > > As far as cron logs, I am _now_ gettting an entry that looks like cron > > > is executing the collector: > > > > > > Sep 3 10:40:00 pnoc /usr/sbin/cron[80979]: (cricket) CMD > > > (/usr/local/cricket/cricket/collect-subtrees normal) > > > > > > But, still not getting anything in cricket's logs: > > > > > > ls: No match. > > > pnoc# ls -l /usr/local/cricket/*logs > > > total 2812 > > > -rw-r--r-- 1 cricket www 74098 Sep 3 09:17 normal.0 > > > > > > The 9:17 time is from a manual run of the collector. > > > > > > I must admit, I am not certain waht to check next. > > > > Run: > > su -m cricket /usr/bin/env -i HOME=/usr/local/cricket PATH=/bin:/usr/bin > > /usr/local/cricket/cricket/collect-subtrees normal > > OK, this is just slightly over my head, so let me be very specific about > what I did: > > su -m cricket > /usr/bin/env -i Just run the command above as one line, this does nothing. Check some manpages while you're at it: man env man su man 5 crontab It's almost certainly a PATH issue if what you did worked and setting the PATH in the crontab file should fix it. Why it worked before, is probably not worth investigating. -- Mel
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