Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcsun!ukc!icdoc!qmw-cs!liam
From: liam@cs.qmw.ac.uk (William Roberts)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.aux
Subject: Re: Login without home directory
Message-ID: <2377@sequent.cs.qmw.ac.uk>
Date: 13 Jun 90 11:59:46 GMT
References: <5801@helios.TAMU.EDU>
Organization: Computer Science Dept, QMW, University of London, UK.
Lines: 29

In <5801@helios.TAMU.EDU> ronniek@cs.tamu.edu (Ronnie Killough) writes:

>I have a Mac IIci, A/UX 1.1.1.  I want to allow someone to login
>even if they don't have a home directory (i.e. the account is a
>YP account, but their home directory is not mounted).

They do need to have somewhere as a working directory in which
to run their shell. I suggest that you use YP to give everyone
a default working directory, e.g. the password entry

        +:::99:99::/tmp:

which picks up everything from YP except their home directory,
which is replaced by /tmp (the 99s are because I just hate
seeing +::0:0::: in passwd files - I don't know of a security
hole that exploits this, but I'd rather not leave uid 0
associated with no password under any circumstances).

Another alternative is to have a guest home directory with a
.login or .profile (as appropriate) that warns people that they
have guest facilities and are not in their home directories.

PS. Why not mount their home directory anyway?
-- 

William Roberts                 ARPA: liam@cs.qmw.ac.uk
Queen Mary & Westfield College  UUCP: liam@qmw-cs.UUCP
Mile End Road                   AppleLink: UK0087
LONDON, E1 4NS, UK              Tel:  071-975 5250 (Fax: 081-980 6533)