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From: krowitz@RICHTER.MIT.EDU (David Krowitz)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apollo
Subject: Re:  edrgy -> /etc/group
Message-ID: <9102131433.AA16762@richter.mit.edu>
Date: 13 Feb 91 14:33:06 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 24

The /etc/group file on a Domain/OS is a special file of type "group"
(use /bin/ls -lT to see the Domain file types) with a length of 0.
Whenever you try to access the file, the file-type manager for the
"group" file type is invoked. The manager then accesses the data
contained in the system login registries and formats the data to
look like the standard Unix file. The type-manager permits reads,
but not writes  to the file. The /etc/password file is similar. It
has a file-type of "passwd" (ahem, I mean the /etc/passwd file!), and
the type manager for this file works in the same manner.

If your /etc/group and /etc/passwd files have the correct file types
and lengths of 0, and you still cannot read the files, then your
system login registries are probably dead. The registries are managed
by the /etc/rgyd daemon which, in turn, relies upon the NCS local and
global location brokers (/etc/ncs/llbd and /etc/ncs/glbd, respectively);
and they, in turn, rely upon the TCP/IP services working correctly.


 -- David Krowitz

krowitz@richter.mit.edu   (18.83.0.109)
krowitz%richter.mit.edu@eddie.mit.edu
krowitz%richter.mit.edu@mitvma.bitnet
(in order of decreasing preference)