Program fails to run if uid=0 and shell is /bin/tcsh
- To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
- Subject: [mg36326] Program fails to run if uid=0 and shell is /bin/tcsh
- From: "Dr. David Kirkby" <drkirkby at ntlworld.com>
- Date: Mon, 2 Sep 2002 04:08:33 -0400 (EDT)
- Organization: None, but lots of entropy
- Sender: owner-wri-mathgroup at wolfram.com
I know its not a good idea to run programs as root on a Unix machine and don't normally do so. However, can anyone tell me what is happening here? A mathematical program 'Mathematica' has been installed in /usr/local on this Sun Ultra 60. The correct password was entered and it all runs fine with my normal login (davek), which has a shell of /bin/tcsh. If I switch user to root, which has the normal /sbin/sh shell, Mathematica runs fine. However, if I switch user to 'roottcsh', which as a uid of 0, but a shell of /bin/tcsh, Mathematica fails to run, saying the password file is invalid. I can't understand while executing a program that works fine as root, fine as a normal user, yet does not when run when execution is attempted as another user with root privileges. *** Runs fine as a formal user 'davek'****** wren /export/home/davek % math Mathematica 4.0 for Solaris Copyright 1988-1999 Wolfram Research, Inc. -- Motif graphics initialized -- In[1]:= Quit ***Mathematica is run from /usr/local/bin/math, which is a symbolic link**** wren /export/home/davek % which math /usr/local/bin/math wren /export/home/davek % ls -l /usr/local/bin/math lrwxrwxrwx 1 root other 53 Jun 16 08:18 /usr/local/bin/math -> /usr/local/mathematica-4.0.2/Executables/Solaris/math ***Mathematica runs fine as root**** wren /export/home/davek % su Password: # /usr/local/bin/math Mathematica 4.0 for Solaris Copyright 1988-1999 Wolfram Research, Inc. -- Motif graphics initialized -- In[1]:= Quit ***Switch to a user with uid=0, shell =/bin/tcsh *** wren /export/home/davek % su - roottcsh Password: Sun Microsystems Inc. SunOS 5.9 Generic May 2002 You have new mail. ***Now Mathematica does not run*** wren / # /usr/local/bin/math Mathematica 4.0 for Solaris Copyright 1988-1999 Wolfram Research, Inc. /usr/local/mathematica-4.0.2/Configuration/Licensing/mathpass:1: Incomplete password entry. No valid single-machine password entry for Mathematica found. Machine name: wren MathID: [deleted by moderator] You will need a valid license ID and password in order to proceed. Go to http://register.wolfram.com or consult your Getting Started documentation. Enter the name of your organization: ***Here are the contents of the password files**** ***with the contents of /etc/shadow changed for security resons*** wren / # cat /etc/passwd | grep root root:x:0:1:Super-User:/:/sbin/sh roottcsh:x:0:1:Dr. David Kirkby:/:/bin/tcsh wren / # cat /etc/shadow | grep root root:TA9addfsfsdsdfdddMTxHU:11266:::::: roottcsh:dgddsdfsdffsdnSw:11198:::::: -- Dr. David Kirkby PhD, email: drkirkby at ntlworld.com web page: http://www.david-kirkby.co.uk Amateur radio callsign: G8WRB