Topic: Logging In

[Scott Buschelman]

I have come across an problem I have never seen before in linux.  I am not sure when it happened, but I am no longer able to log into my system under any name.  root, admin, or any user....  At the user prompt, I type either admin, root, or whatever, and the screen refreshes immediately, and does not even prompt me for a password....  Even a little more strange, I am able to log in over the internet (on a local machine) using admin and able to get to all of the interface.  I cannot get in as root - I have not set up ssh yet.  Any ideas on the not being able to log in to the machine itself?

Thanks

[arno]

Did u tried 2 reset ur server?

[Byte]

Or go into single user mode...type at command init1 then reset root password

[Scott Buschelman]

Yes, several times.... I can re-boot the server using the server but still no access possible using the system.  I have even switched Keyboards - just trying.  The characters that display when I type the user name is correct.

[Scott Buschelman]

and, without the ability to log in, I would have no idea on how to get in as single user mode....

[Byte]

which version of SME are you using? Have you installed anything of late that might have broken your server?

[Scott Buschelman]

I'm not at home right now, but I am relatively sure it is version 5.something...  I do know for a fact that it is not 6.0.  I have one server running 5.something (it seems to be fine) and another version running a previous version (it's the one down) - although the look and feel of the website are fine.   All about the site works - except logging in at the physical machine.  By the way, the two versions are running on totally different networks - no conflicts there, and I have installed nothing - or did any maintenance lately that should have "out of no-where" caused a problem.  Servers are each plugged into separate UPS's - so Power failure seems un-likely also.

[Harold]

Scott Buschelman wrote:

> I'm not at home right now, but I am relatively sure it is
> version 5.something...  I do know for a fact that it is not
> 6.0.  I have one server running 5.something (it seems to be
> fine) and another version running a previous version (it's
> the one down)

Ah, so you didn't keep it up to date or listen to any of the security warnings ...

http://www.cert.org/tech_tips/win-UNIX-system_compromise.html

[Scott Buschelman]

Wow, sounds a bit harsh... But I suppose I deserve it for not being more cautious and up to date....

I breifly scanned the website you proposed, to make a long story short, it looks as if I am in for re-installing E-smith   Correct?  

-S

[Ray Mitchell]

Rebooting in single user mode
To do this press Ctrl X when you see the e-smith or Mitel logo appear on the screen after a reboot. This will start the server at a lilo text prompt.
For sme version 5.6
Type:
Mitel-SME single
or
Mitel-SME 1

For sme version 5.5, 5.1.2, 5.0, 4.1.2 or earlier
Type:
esmith single
or
esmith 1

This boots the server into single user mode.
This logs you on without a root password but with SU powers
Then you can try to reset the password if that is the only problem (??).

There are posts here on how to do that, do a search or try this

Once you are logged on as root you can change anyones password.
For admin you simply enter the command:

passwd admin

Root and admin do not have to have the same password.
or this

passwd root

Now enter the new root password and confirm.
Then type

init 7


Just a suggestion, but if hardware is faulty it could cause some IO errors that you see when typing.
You could you remove the hard disk and temporarily instal it in another box to see if it works OK there. If not then a reinstal sounds appropriate and make sure you apply all the updates as they become available.

Hope this helps
Regards
the REAL Ray Mitchell