Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!aplcen!samsung!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!res
From: res@cbnews.att.com (Robert E. Stampfli)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: time dependent login
Message-ID: <1990May31.172936.10030@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 31 May 90 17:29:36 GMT
References: <979@sixhub.UUCP> <1990May28.200520.20288@cbnews.att.com> <1990May29.194446.12623@cbnewsh.att.com>
Distribution: na
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 18

>  I want to enable login to a certain userid only during certain times.
>Assume that cron can run a program to enable or disable, and that I can
>do this as root if need be. Given that, is there an elegant way to
>enable a login only during certain times, and to do so in a way which
>doesn't lead to possible timing problems or other system uglyness, such
>as editing the password file directly?

Why *not* modify the password file?  To turn an account "xyz" off:

/bin/echo '/^xyz:/s/:/:NOLOG/\nw' | /bin/ed /etc/passwd

To turn it back on:

echo '/^xyz:/s/:NOLOG/:/\nw' | /bin/ed /etc/passwd

-- 
Rob Stampfli	/ att.com!stampfli (uucp@work) / kd8wk@w8cqk (packet radio)
614-864-9377	/ osu-cis.cis.ohio-state.edu!kd8wk!res (uucp@home)