From: David Foster (foster@dim.ucsd.edu)
Date: Thu Oct 24 2002 - 18:39:11 EDT
Problem:
'last' output is incorrect, /var/adm/wtmpx is corrupted. Example:
foster pts/1 Wed Dec 31 16:00 still logged in
foster pts/3 dim Thu Aug 1 14:34 still logged in
Solution: (workaround)
This turned out to be an OpenSSH problem! If OpenSSH (only tested
versions 3.4p1 and 3.5p1) is compiled 64-bit it corrupts the
/var/adm/wtmpx file upon first connection, possibly due to an
inappropriate data-type (length) being used for one of the records
of the structure written to this file (my guess).
This problem occurs when compiling with gcc 3.2 or Sun Workshop 5.0.
Compiling 32-bit (gcc 3.2 or Workshop 5.0) solved the problem.
If anyone has time to peruse the code to determine what is
doing the Wrong Thing please post your findings!
Casper Dik referred to a more general problem with OpenSSH
corrupting wtmpx:
"There's a known problem with some versions of OpenSSH that
corrupt utmpx/wtmpx. [...] I think it was caused by OpenSSH updating
both utmp and utmpx; that has always been wrong (either update
one or the other and the routines will make sure that the files
are shadowed; with Solaris 8 utmp was removed and some of the
code may have broken in those particular circumstances."
Thanks to:
Luc Suryo
Casper Dik
>
> Is anyone else having problems with 'last'? We just upgraded many of our
> boxes from Solaris 8 (07/01) to (10/01), and we are getting incorrect
> results from 'last'. We are at kernel patch level 108528-15.
>
> 59 <troilus:/var/adm> last | more
> foster pts/1 Wed Dec 31 16:00 still logged in
> foster pts/3 dim Thu Aug 1 14:34 still logged in
> skchow console :0 Wed Jul 31 09:36 - 17:00 (07:24)
>
> The latest date to appear is always "Wed Dec 31 16:00", nothing after
> Aug 1 appears. I've tried initializing /var/adm/[u,w]tmpx with
> 'cat /dev/null >! ..." but the problem persists. Looked on SunSolve,
> didn't see any patches specific to 'last'.
>
> Dave Foster
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
David Foster National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research
Programmer/Analyst University of California, San Diego
dfoster@ucsd.edu Department of Neuroscience, Mail 0608
(858) 534-7968 http://ncmir.ucsd.edu/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one
persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress
depends on the unreasonable." -- George Bernard Shaw
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