RE: ssh service staring problem "bad owner /var/empty" but not fixed

["Scott Prive" <Scott dot Prive at storigen dot com>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Igor Pechtchanski [mailto:pechtcha@cs.nyu.edu]
> Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2002 3:19 PM
> To: Scott Prive
> Cc: Elfyn; cygwin@cygwin.com
> Subject: RE: ssh service staring problem "bad owner 
> /var/empty" but not
> fixed
> 
> 
> On Wed, 9 Oct 2002, Scott Prive wrote:
> 
> > Attempting to run the sshd server as Administrator was 
> purely an act of
> > desperation. All along until them I've left it at default 
> Local System.
> >
> > On my sshd-working system, all of those files belong to "None".
> >
> > On the other, broken-sshd system, all of those files belong to
> > Administrator:None.
> >
> > HOWEVER if I do a `chmod SYSTEM /etc/ssh*`, the command 
> does NOT change
> > ownership. It just returns to the prompt w/o error (echo #? 
> shows 0).
> 
> Hmmm, surely you mean `chown SYSTEM /etc/ssh*`...
> However, this gives me an idea.  Do you have ntsec set in your $CYGWIN
> environment variable?  If you don't, that could be one reason 
> for chown
> not to work.
> 	Igor

That was it.. I added the variable, allowing me to correct the problem.

What threw me off during the install was I got NO ERROR when I attempted `chown SYSTEM filename`. 

When I noticed this, even the exit code was 0 but the ownership would not change. I did not get a "no such user", because (of course) the user DOES exist in both /etc/passwd and in Windows. 

It seems reasonable that Cygwin chown could have more error checking, such that the chown would return a fail message if the chown did not succeed, as verified by my `ls -l` showed.  I'm guessing there's some Cygwin to WinNT interaction here and a disconnect occurs.

thanks all,
Scott

> 
> > I think this is where the problem may lie, but if the command wont
> > change owner then I'm blocked.
> >
> > Any ideas? Thanks.
> >
> > Scott
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Marius Seritan [mailto:mseritan@jacent.com]
> > > Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2002 2:11 PM
> > > To: Scott Prive; Elfyn; cygml
> > > Subject: Re: ssh service staring problem "bad owner 
> /var/empty" but not fixed
> > >
> > > I am not sure if I understand all the details of your setup
> > > but here are some comments. Unless you typed an user name and
> > > password in the sshd service setup box you are running sshd
> > > as SYSTEM. SYSTEM is totally different from Administrator,
> > > the 2 accounts different sids, different privileges, network
> > > access capabilities. You need to have /etc/ssh*, /var/empty
> > > and /var/log/sshd.log belong to SYSTEM (chown SYSTEM ...)
> > >
> > > I hope this helps.
> > >
> > > Marius
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Scott Prive" <Scott.Prive@storigen.com>
> > > To: "Elfyn" <emcb_exposure@hotmail.com>; "cygml" 
> <cygwin@cygwin.com>
> > > Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2002 11:03 AM
> > > Subject: RE: ssh service staring problem "bad owner
> > > /var/empty" but not fixed
> > >
> > > Looks like our problems are somewhat related. I wonder if
> > > anyone else has ideas...
> > >
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > From: Elfyn [mailto:emcb_exposure@hotmail.com]
> > > > Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2002 1:44 PM
> > > > To: cygml; Scott Prive
> > > > Subject: Re: ssh service staring problem "bad owner 
> /var/empty" but not fixed
> > > >
> > > > Hey,
> > > >
> > > > What i meant by shared-server is that more than one 
> person (other
> > > > than you) would be accessing the server. So if it is a shared
> > > > environment you might want to tighten security.
> > > >
> > > > In general you should run things like crond,sshd etc. 
> as the SYSTEM
> > > > user as Administrator doesnt have the required run as 
> service tokens
> > > > and others needed for a run-as-user service unless 
> youve added them
> > > > in [domain|local] security policy(s) thingys in Administrative
> > > > tools.
> > > >
> > > > I dont know whats going on. I just had to stop sshd so 
> i could so i
> > > > could get rid of an ssh process that wouldnt go away, 
> went away when
> > > > the service stopped but now i cant restart it. I get 
> these errors in
> > > > the eventlog...
> > > >
> > > > Event Type: Error
> > > > Event Source: sshd
> > > > Event Category: None
> > > > Event ID: 0
> > > > Date:  09/10/2002
> > > > Time:  17:57:14
> > > > User:  NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
> > > > Computer: W3
> > > > Description:
> > > > The description for Event ID ( 0 ) in Source ( sshd ) cannot
> > > > be found. The
> > > > local computer may not have the necessary registry
> > > > information or message
> > > > DLL files to display messages from a remote computer. 
> The following
> > > > information is part of the event: sshd : Win32 Process Id =
> > > > 0xCA8 : Cygwin
> > > > Process Id = 0xCA8 : starting service `sshd' failed: execv:
> > > > 1, Operation not
> > > > permitted.
> > >
> > > YES! I get exactly this message in Event Viewer, except
> > > execv=255 error=255
> > >
> > > >
> > > > Event Type: Error
> > > > Event Source: sshd
> > > > Event Category: None
> > > > Event ID: 0
> > > > Date:  09/10/2002
> > > > Time:  17:57:13
> > > > User:  NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
> > > > Computer: W3
> > > > Description:
> > > > The description for Event ID ( 0 ) in Source ( sshd ) cannot
> > > > be found. The
> > > > local computer may not have the necessary registry
> > > > information or message
> > > > DLL files to display messages from a remote computer. 
> The following
> > > > information is part of the event: sshd : Win32 Process Id =
> > > > 0x950 : Cygwin
> > > > Process Id = 0x950 : starting service `l' failed:
> > > > redirect_fd: open (1,
> > > > /var/log/sshd.log): 22, Invalid argument.
> > > >
> > > I don't get this one exactly. The second error I get is
> > > line-for-line identical with the first event, minus the bit
> > > about "execv=255" (not a different error number... just not
> > > there at all).
> > >
> > > > are you getting anything similar?
> > > >
> > > > Elfyn
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: "Scott Prive" <Scott.Prive@storigen.com>
> > > > To: "Elfyn" <emcb_exposure@hotmail.com>; "cygml" 
> <cygwin@cygwin.com>
> > > > Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2002 6:23 PM
> > > > Subject: RE: ssh service staring problem "bad owner 
> /var/empty" but not fixed
> > > >
> > > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > > From: Elfyn [mailto:emcb_exposure@hotmail.com]
> > > > > Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2002 12:02 PM
> > > > > To: cygml
> > > > > Subject: Re: ssh service staring problem "bad owner 
> /var/empty" but not fixed
> > > > >
> > > > > Hi,
> > > > >
> > > > > I had that when i first installed it... i take it the 
> permissions
> > > > > on files like /etc/sshd* /etc/ssh_host* are exclusive to the
> > > > > SYSTEM account (if your running a shared-style server) and the
> > > > > service is running as SYSTEM.
> > > >
> > > > Let's see...:
> > > > $ ls -l /etc/ssh*
> > > > -rw-r--r--    1 Administ None         1049 Sep  5 15:59 
> /etc/ssh_config
> > > > -rw-r--r--    1 Administ None          668 Sep  5 15:19 
> /etc/ssh_host_dsa_key
> > > > -rw-r--r--    1 Administ None          614 Sep  5 15:19 
> /etc/ssh_host_dsa_key.pub
> > > > -rw-r--r--    1 Administ None          539 Sep  5 15:19 
> /etc/ssh_host_key
> > > > -rw-r--r--    1 Administ None          343 Sep  5 15:19 
> /etc/ssh_host_key.pub
> > > > -rw-r--r--    1 Administ None          883 Sep  5 15:19 
> /etc/ssh_host_rsa_key
> > > > -rw-r--r--    1 Administ None          234 Sep  5 15:19 
> /etc/ssh_host_rsa_key.pub
> > > > -rw-r--r--    1 Administ None         2041 Sep  5 15:59 
> /etc/sshd_config
> > > >
> > > > Is "Administrator" here perfectly synonymous with "SYSTEM"?
> > > > Also, I'm not sure what you mean by "shared style server",
> > > > how to verify if that is my case, or how this would 
> affect things.
> > > >
> > > > The service in MMC shows it logs on as "Local System Account",
> > > > "interact with desktop" NOT checked. Should this 
> instead be running
> > > > as sshd user or Administrator?
> > > >
> > > > I personally prefer to get things running "the right 
> way" and not
> > > > blow holes through local security. That said, this is a test lab
> > > > system and I'd go the "hack" way to Make It Work... if 
> I knew what
> > > > to do next.
> > > >
> > > > >I got
> > > > > around that problem my making the system user the owner of
> > > > > /var/empty with
> > > > > exclusive rwx permissions and group/other with none. if youre
> > > > > not running
> > > > > the svc as SYSTEM just adjust the owner to your user.
> > > >
> > > > I've already `chmod 700 /var/empty`. Not sure what you mean
> > > > about ownership
> > > > of the service. I'm not sure this was the correct thing to
> > > > do, but I tried
> > > > setting CYGWIN sshd to log on as Administrator, set the
> > > > password, and now it
> > > > returns "Error 1069: Logon failure" (the password IS correct).
> > > > >
> > > > > Have you had problems with ssh when logging in at all?
> > > >
> > > > I can't even get the service to START.
> > > >
> > > > >my sshd has for some
> > > > > reason been denying access to anyone that trys to login to my
> > > > > CYGWIN server
> > > > > with a permission/access denied message. nothing in sshd.log
> > > > > but event-log
> > > > > shows a badpw error (very weird). i know the password is
> > > > > correct bacause im
> > > > > using terminal services to login to the server right now...
> > > > >
> > > > > hope the first bit helps, sorry to bore you with the latter :)
> > > >
> > > > No problem. :-D  I've been reading everything I can on 
> the subject.
> > > >
> > > > There might be enough demand for a Cygwin book; I'd buy one
> > > > in a heartbeat.
> > > > With problems like this you get the complexity UNIX is known
> > > > for, with NT's
> > > > lack of decent error reporting. When you're DONE, of 
> course, you get
> > > > powerful UNIX tools, with Win2K's good points (good points? A
> > > > free PC in
> > > > every box of MS Outlook)   :-)
> > > >
> > > > I'm still stuck, if anyone else has ideas.
> > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Elfyn
> > > > >
> > > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > > From: "Scott Prive" <Scott.Prive@storigen.com>
> > > > > To: "Cygwin" <cygwin@cygwin.com>
> > > > > Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2002 4:12 PM
> > > > > Subject: ssh service staring problem "bad owner 
> /var/empty" but not fixed
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Hello,
> > > > >
> > > > > I understand the problem I am about to ask is not uncommon,
> > > > > and I have made
> > > > > considerable effort to look for the answers in the archive...
> > > > >
> > > > > On an up-to-date (today) Cygwin install, sshd refuses to start
> > > > > (the MS Management console gives a useless error). On other
> > > > > systems, I have installed Cygwin sshd and it worked 
> fine (I have
> > > > > not done this "recently" though and I understand 
> there have been
> > > > > changes to ssd of sorts).
> > > > >
> > > > > When I first attempted this install some weeks back, 
> I followed
> > > > > the guide at http://tech.erdelynet.com/cygwin-sshd.html
> > > > >
> > > > > I didn't actually "run the permissions script" as the 
> author had
> > > > > just days before, pulled down the script. I'm not sure if the
> > > > > other steps on this page complicate my problem, so 
> I'll mention
> > > > > it.
> > > > >
> > > > > The first thing I check is /var/log/sshd.log, and 
> it's "bad owner
> > > > > or mode for /var/empty". OK, it's some sort of NT permissions
> > > > > issue. A Google search tells me /var/empty should be 
> chmod 700 or
> > > > > 755 (it's 755).
> > > > >
> > > > > grep /etc/passwd ssh shows ssh account is 1000:513, 
> sshd privsep,
> > > > > home of /var/empty and shell of /bin/false
> > > > >
> > > > > I've also tried chowning the directory as 
> SYSTEM:SYSTEM (or 18:18).
> > > > >
> > > > > I did notice in the MMC Groups panel, there is no 
> VISIBLE group
> > > > > for "sshd", but there is a sshd user. My Google 
> searches tell me
> > > > > there should be a group, so I attempt to add the 
> group "sshd" and
> > > > > make "sshd" user a member. I get the error: "while 
> attempting to
> > > > > create the group sshd on computer QA2000TEST: The 
> account already
> > > > > exists". I get this error if I attempt to create the 
> group "sshd"
> > > > > with or with-out the member "sshd".
> > > > >
> > > > > I've Reinstalled openssh, and even selected 
> Unininstall followed
> > > > > by Install in case there was a difference. The 
> version of openssh
> > > > > I have is 3.4p1-5
> > > > >
> > > > > I appreciate any help. I hope I have checked all of 
> the obvious
> > > > > "gotchas" so I don't waste anyone's time. Thanks.
> > > > >
> > > > > -Scott
> 
> -- 
> 				http://cs.nyu.edu/~pechtcha/
>       |\      _,,,---,,_		pechtcha@cs.nyu.edu
> ZZZzz /,`.-'`'    -.  ;-;;,_		igor@watson.ibm.com
>      |,4-  ) )-,_. ,\ (  `'-'		Igor Pechtchanski
>     '---''(_/--'  `-'\_) fL	a.k.a JaguaR-R-R-r-r-r-.-.-.  Meow!
> 
> "Water molecules expand as they grow warmer" (C) Popular 
> Science, Oct'02, p.51
> 
> 

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