Re: Upgrade from source to RC1: problems with /etc : lost users

> pwd_mkdb -p /etc/master.passwd

        Cheers,

        Matthew

> Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil.   

That did it!  Now I can login as nonroot and startx.

I found pwd_mkdb in my searching, but would not have known to use '-p'.  I might have done

pwd_mkdb /etc/master.passwd

from Doug Barton <dougb@FreeBSD.org>:

> Carefully? :)  Seriously ... always use the -P option, and/or add
> PRESERVE_FILES in your mergemaster rc file. Watch the changes carefully.
> If you have to, do the updates in more than one pass using the -r option
> for subsequent runs. Do the simple ones first, then go back and do the
> ones that you have to think harder about. I recommend against using the
> -U option.

> It's not rocket science, it's just like any other system administration
> task, it requires careful attention.

> Doug

That seems like a good idea, using -P option to be able to go back to something good if one screws up.

>From 'man mergemaster':

     The mergemaster utility is a Bourne shell script which is designed to aid
     you in updating the various configuration and other files associated with
     FreeBSD.  It is HIGHLY recommended that you back up your /etc directory
     before beginning this process.

So I could make a second backup of /etc before the second mergemaster invocation, after installworld.

There are lots of files to merge/edit, and one can easily become tired and make mistakes.  We're only human and not infallible.

Tom

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