On Sun, Sep 26, 2004 at 02:12:16AM -0700, Tom Taylor wrote: > > Tonight I tried to go into system-config-users to add groups to my user > account I got the message: > > The user database cannot be read. This problem is most likely caused by a > mismatch in /etc/password and /etc/shadow. > > My question is WHY and how do I CORRECT it? First it should be passwd not password. Is this typo yours or a bug in the tool. Are you using any 'other' user database (NIS, LDAP, ...). We do not know what the problem is so you need to inspect /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow. First use: less /etc/passwd less /etc/shadow ls -l /etc/passwd /etc/shadow If looking at the two files does not show you the problem you might try looking at them side by side. vim -dR /etc/passwd /etc/shadow. Look for lines in one that are unpaired on the other. Then look for errors in each pair. Tools might help... Read the man page for "pwck" then "pwconv". Scan /etc/login.defs -- T o m M i t c h e l l Me, I would "Rather" Not.
