RH 9.0 user problems

[SAJChurchey]

I updated my RH 7.3 installation to a RH 9.0 installation. My original usernames contained underscores and for some reason the redhat-config-users program didn't like that, when I tried to add a user to a few groups, so changed the username temporarily and then manually changed it back in the /etc/passwd file.

Now this user cannot login, and when I try to go into redhat-config-users to change the password it says

 

quote:
    The user database cannot be read. Program will exit now.

I think I ran into a security measure when i manually changed the /etc/ passwd file. What can I do?

[flap]

what are the contents of your passwd file?

[KernelPanic]

You din't back it up before changing it...
My oh my

[SAJChurchey]

Yeah, yeah, I should have backed it up, but I was only adding like three characters to it.

/etc/passwd contains usernames, group memberships,etc.  It use to have the passwords way back when, then they got encrypted, and now they're kept in a different file.

Like I said I just changed a username from churchey to churchey_jk.

[flap]

You could just take the underscore out again.

[SAJChurchey]

Yeah,

I did,and that worked, but now I need to get the username back to the one w/the underscore somehow b/c a lot of my scripts rely on it being that.  I'll have to add it through the command line, but I don't remember how, plus I have to add them to some groups.

[flap]

If it's just references to that username in scripts that need changing, a single line search and replace command will do it for you.