On Wed, 6 Jan 1999, Ken Nakata wrote:

> On Tue, 05 Jan 1999 21:56:07 -0500, Dale Einarson wrote:
> > 
> > When I try to ftp as any user I get 
> > 
> > 331 Password required for root.
> > 530 User root may not use FTP (invalid shell).
> > logon failure, so quitting
> Check /etc/shells and see if it looks like this:
> 
> ---8<--8<--8<---
> #	$NetBSD: shells,v 1.3 1996/12/29 03:23:07 mrg Exp $
> #
> # List of acceptable shells for chpass(1).
> # Ftpd will not allow users to connect who are not using
> # one of these shells.
> 
> /bin/sh
> /bin/csh
> /bin/ksh
> /usr/pkg/bin/bash
> ---8<--8<--8<---
> 
> I think the comment in this file says it all.

Dang. Beaten to the answer by quick-reply Nakata. :-) (I was in the middle
of saying the same thing).

One further note, be careful about the shell you give root. NetBSD uses
shared libraries (on most ports, including mac68k). Programs compiled w/
shared libraries don't contain the full program - they rely on libraries
external to the program (libraries which these programs can _share_ with
all other programs, saving disk space).

If something happens to these shared libraries, all the programs relying
on them loose. If root's shell is one of these, then root looses (it's
kinda hard to run the shell to fix the library if the shell is dead).

I'd suggest reverting root's shell to /bin/csh, and making another user
(say "croot") with UID 0. With vipw, just copy the "root" line, chance the
name, and change the shell.

Take care,

Bill