Bug 14294 – Postgresql users has /bin/false as a shell, aldo it's ebuilds wants /bin/true (of bash)

• Product: Gentoo Linux
• Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE

[Description Alvaro Figueroa (RETIRED) 2003-01-21 09:05:48 UTC]

postgresql-7.3.1's ebuild (and probably others.. haven't checked) says:

einfo ">>> Make sure the postgres user in /etc/passwd has an account set
up with /bin/bash as the shell, or /bin/true"

But the default stage1-1.4_rc2 from ibiblio (for sparc at least) has /bin/false
as the postgres user's shell.

I suppose that having /bin/false as it's shell won't affect mutch, but it's
still some unnecesarry stress to hand over to the person who is installing postgres.

Please make the passwd file from the stages tar in sync with the comment on the
ebuild.

[Comment 1 Ryan Phillips (RETIRED) 2003-01-21 11:52:45 UTC]

Martin: can you change this in the next baselayout release?

[Comment 2 Martin Schlemmer (RETIRED) 2003-01-23 06:47:37 UTC]

Any reason for it not to be /bin/false ?  Afiak, if it does not matter,
then /bin/false is much more secure than /bin/bash ...

[Comment 3 Alvaro Figueroa (RETIRED) 2003-01-24 08:59:21 UTC]

I've consulted about it on #postgresql@freenode, and I've been told that there
isn't any postgresql specific trouble.

*But*, if the postgres user doesn't has a valid shell, one could not use "su -c
foo postgres" to (e.g.) start de postgres server, run a daily backup, etc.

[Comment 4 Martin Holzer (RETIRED) 2003-07-09 12:40:39 UTC]

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 10367 ***