Running a remote passwd command.

tweetiepooh has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

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Re: Running a remote passwd command. by thor (Priest) on Jan 11, 2006 at 12:52 UTC
I second the call for the Expect module. I've personally tackled the problem that you're trying to solve. passwd looks to have a real tty behind it for security reasons. Expect fakes that well enough. thor `The only easy day was yesterday`	[reply]
Re: Running a remote passwd command. by marto (Cardinal) on Jan 11, 2006 at 12:23 UTC
Hi tweetiepooh, What problems are you having with the passwd command? Have you looked at the Net::SSH module? Also have a look at the node Password change (Newbie) for some inspiration. Hope this helps. Martin	[reply]
Re: Running a remote passwd command. by blm (Hermit) on Jan 11, 2006 at 12:23 UTC
I did a search on google and got pointed to google groups, via Perl First Response, a newsgroup thread accessible from google that suggests using the Expect module.	[reply]
Re: Running a remote passwd command. by DungeonKeeper (Novice) on Jan 11, 2006 at 12:59 UTC
If NIS is running, then passwd would theoretically function locally but use the NIS database. The issue therefore becomes enabling the non-priveleged user to do a privileged action. The C way of doing this is to write a program that: - performs a setuid or setruid system call to become root - performs further system calls, e.g. setpwinfo if Solaris, to set the password and then set the sticky bit of the resulting executable to enable the setruid for the O/S. I don't see a way to convert the setruid part into perl - I think instead you'd need to make it a linked-in C subroutine -- it is practically a one-liner in C anyway. Passwd::Solaris and Passwd:Linux provide the replacement for actually setting the password. PAR can create the required executable whose sticky bit should be set immediately after installation (e.g. in the manager's home) as before (setting the sticky bit of a perl script will probably be insufficient). See also PAR Tutorial. Alternative ways to make an executable from perl are perlcc and Perl2Exe. Everything but the troll	[reply]
Re^2: Running a remote passwd command. by glasswalk3r (Friar) on Jan 11, 2006 at 16:40 UTC
The module Passwd::Linux does work fine but the problem is the module doesn't setup all the flags in the /etc/shadow. If this is not an issue for you than just use it. Another inconvenience with this module is that doesn't have an function to generate the password hash so you will need to make it yourself. Alceu Rodrigues de Freitas Junior -------------------------------------- glasswalk3r@yahoo.com.br http://www.imortais.cjb.net "You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life." - Sir Winston Churchill	[reply]