[lug] sudoers Failure Q

[stimits at comcast.net]

Ok, I got it working. The "usermod -a -G wheel username" command was failing over and over. The "/etc/group" file content was ignored over and over. After I rebooted...then and only then...usermod command worked and I was able to add the user to group wheel (based on command "groups"...the file never lost that membership).
 
Somewhere in F25 is a bug where "/etc/group" is not consulted or refreshed when it should be. If group membership is added to another group, then groups the user is already a member of should not be lost until reboot (especially since the group file itself never loses the group). Certainly usermod changes should show up in the "groups" command, though I could see how some parts of shells do not get updated until logging back in, since not all shells are login shells. To actually lose group membership function when nothing removed the group is odd. I wonder if changes to "/etc/group" has callbacks to other software which fails.
 
Anyway, thanks for the suggestion on the groups command...that was the key to realize "/etc/group" does not determine which group I was in.
 
----- Original Message -----From: Jed S. Baer <blug at jbaer.cotse.net>To: lug at lug.boulder.co.usSent: Mon, 10 Jul 2017 22:40:19 -0000 (UTC)Subject: Re: [lug] sudoers Failure Q

On Mon, 10 Jul 2017 22:18:55 +0000 (UTC)stimits at comcast.net wrote:

> It looks like a flaw in usermod --groups.

I'm not a fan of how usermod works, though I sort of understand why it'sthe way it is.

"group-"https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/25569/what-is-the-purpose-of-etc-group - it's a backup file.

Been a long while since I had to know what the shadow files are for.(Didn't come up in the cabinet shop business.) But I doubt your problemis related specifically to either the "-" files or the shadow files.

> I think you found something...wheel is not listed. However, my user is> in "/etc/group", and I've not manually edited anything.

So, looking for issues with the "-" and shadow files won't help you. Justadd the wheel group (if it isn't there), and add yourself to it. Be sureto use the form: usermod username -a -G wheelto do that._______________________________________________Web Page: http://lug.boulder.co.usMailing List: http://lists.lug.boulder.co.us/mailman/listinfo/lugJoin us on IRC: irc.hackingsociety.org port=6667 channel=#hackingsociety
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