Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!uunet!uvm-gen!banzai!roger
From: roger@banzai.UUCP (Roger Florkowski)
Newsgroups: unix-pc.general
Subject: Re: which unix-pc files MUST be writeable by others?
Summary: chmod 644 /etc/?tmp works just fine.
Message-ID: <1144@banzai.UUCP>
Date: 8 May 89 14:54:33 GMT
References: <587@cbnewsc.ATT.COM> <17736@cup.portal.com> <672@cbnewsc.ATT.COM> <1399@lokkur.UUCP> <179@gnosys.UUCP>
Reply-To: roger@banzai.UUCP (Roger Florkowski)
Organization: People's Computer Company, Williston, VT
Lines: 24

In article <179@gnosys.UUCP> gst@gnosys.UUCP (Gary S. Trujillo) writes:
}In article <1399@lokkur.UUCP> scs@lokkur.UUCP (Steve Simmons) writes:
}> ...There are a couple of accounting files
}> (utmp, wtmp, a few things in /usr/adm) that need to be writable.
}
}	-rw-r--r--  1 root    sys         288 May  7 18:12 /etc/utmp
}	-rw-r--r--  1 root    sys       26028 May  7 18:11 /etc/wtmp
}
}Hmmm.  I've been running with these files having mode 644 for some time
}with no apparent problem.
}-- 
}Gary S. Trujillo			      {linus,bbn,m2c}!spdcc!gnosys!gst
}Somerville, Massachusetts		     {icus,ima,stech,wjh12}!gnosys!gst

/etc/utmp and /etc/wtmp are modified by getty or login (I know uugetty
updates them, I'm not sure about /etc/getty).  Since getty is run from
inittab (and therefor login), it has root permissions until it has
set up the user's environment.  Therefor, setting /etc/utmp and /etc/wtmp
to the above permissions (644) would work just fine.


-- 
Roger Florkowski	       		{uunet!uvm-gen, attmail}!banzai!roger
The People's Computer Company			  `Revolutionary Programming'