Fixing wtmp Errors
The wtmp files sometimes cause problems
in the day-to-day operation of the accounting system.
When the date is changed
and the system is in multiuser state,
a set of date change records
is written into
/var/adm/wtmp.
The wtmpfix program
is designed to adjust the timestamps
in the wtmp
records when a date change is encountered.
However, some combinations of date changes and reboots
may slip through wtmpfix and cause acctcon
to fail.
To patch up a wtmp file:
-
Change to the directory /var/adm/acct/nite.
-
To convert the corrupted binary record to a formatted
ASCII form, execute:
fwtmp < wtmp.MMDD > xwtmp
where MMDD is the numeric date suffix of the file you
want to patch.
-
Edit the file xwtmp
and delete corrupted records or
delete all records from the beginning
up to the date change.
-
Write and quit the file xwtmp.
-
To convert the patched file back to the binary form needed
by the accounting utilities, execute
fwtmp -ic < xwtmp > wtmp.MMDD
-
If the wtmp
file is beyond repair, create a null
wtmp file.
The existence of this null file
prevents any charging of connect time.
As a side effect, the lack of a
wtmp file prevents acctprc
from identifying the login
that owned a particular process.
When this happens, the process is charged to
the owner of the first login in the
password file for the appropriate user ID.
© 2004 The SCO Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
UnixWare 7 Release 7.1.4 - 22 April 2004