How do you change login/password prompt?

cnewtonne · 11-13-2006, 03:24 PM

I have a RHL_1 box that prompts you like this when you telnet to it ...

login: oracle
password for Oracle:****

I also have another RHL_2 box that does it a little bit different ...

login: oracle
password:****

How do you go about changing rhl_1 to match rhl_2 i.e. the password prompt?
In otherworlds, I'm looking for the equivalent of /etc/security/login.cfg file on AIX

raskin · 11-13-2006, 03:45 PM

login.defs, I guess.

cnewtonne · 11-14-2006, 03:15 AM

nice try. Close enough but I could not find away or setting in the file to control the login prompt. I reviewed all settings and none seems to apply (linuxmanpages.com/man5/login.defs.5.php). I can not believe this is not doeble on linux. There is got to be away.

Any other ideas or suggestions?

bokopperud · 11-14-2006, 07:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cnewtonne

nice try. Close enough but I could not find away or setting in the file to control the login prompt. I reviewed all settings and none seems to apply (linuxmanpages.com/man5/login.defs.5.php). I can not believe this is not doeble on linux. There is got to be away.

Any other ideas or suggestions?

AFAIK, there are two programs that handles a login -- '*tty' (e.g. smalltty or whatever) started by init; and 'login' execed by 'tty' (both probably in /sbin/ ) -- which then execs the users specified shell. exec changes one command into another, thus maintaining the the same PID... while forks makes a copy with a new PID (which can then be changed by exec).

You could look at the man-pages for them for options or config-files to specify, but I fear the prompts are hard-wired into these two commands -- but you may be able to change them by spcifying another local and editing the files that provides translations... (will probably screw-up other commands then)

-Koppe

raskin · 11-14-2006, 02:17 PM

Isn't it easier then to just recompile these programs - or install version that does not have the limitation?

bokopperud · 11-15-2006, 03:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raskin

Isn't it easier then to just recompile these programs - or install version that does not have the limitation?

Uhhh... probably.

cnewtonne · 11-15-2006, 09:54 AM

well...
It now may sound easier to do it that way. Initially, I thought it is as easy as I'm used to doing it on AIX. Simply, changing the login.cfg file, pretty straight forward. Did not think it is so impossible on linux. The other thing too, I have RHL boxes returning different prompts. I thought at least we can find out where is it coming from.

I appreciate your kind attention, however.

raskin · 11-16-2006, 03:54 PM

well, you have some chance of stracing login (as root)

strace -f -o /tmp/login.log /bin/login

You will at least know what it reads for configuration (post output and login.log if you have troubles). Seems that noone has bug-to-bug compatible login. But with this data, it may become well obvious, what file differs on two boxes.