[Haifux] Login console freezes: Eli's weekly riddle

[Shachar Shemesh]

On 28/10/10 17:59, Eli Billauer wrote:
> Hi,
>
>
> PAM did indeed cross my mind as a suspect. Unfortunately, I have no 
> /var/log/auth* logfiles. As a matter of fact, I don't have any log 
> messages related to authentication. In my very old Redhat 7.3, I had 
> pam_unix messages in /var/log/messages telling me who has changed user 
> ID. On Fedora 12, nothing is mentioned about becoming root in 
> /var/log/messages, and I can't see any directory or file in /var/log 
> that seems to contain that information. Maybe under the audit 
> directory, but the files there are not really human readable.

Just some random thought - perchance the two are not independent? Maybe 
you have a PAM configuration problems that causes both the lack of logs 
AND the slow login?

Also, did you try public key authentication via ssh to see whether that 
one is faster?

>
>
> Any idea of where my authenticate mechanism keeps its logs?
>
Should probably have been "where your authentication mechanism keeps the 
config files that tell it where to generate the logs". Give a man a 
fish, and he'll eat for a day. Teach him how to cook, and he'll die 
starving, dreaming of all the wonderful things he could have cooked, had 
only he had a fish....
>
> And why a kernel upgrade would have any effect?
Like I said. I suspect the configuration was broken even before the upgrade.
>
>
> <rant>In the past, I clearly recall just upgrading my kernel and all 
> was fine. Where are those days?</rant>
I'm sorry, you mistagged the above. We employ a strict four pages 
minimum on rants. Soap box addresses between one and four pages should 
carry the "bicker" tag. Complaints over two lines long should carry the 
"hidepark" tag. This two sentences should have carried the "whine" tag.

<whine>There used to be a time when you could expect old timers to read 
the list's FAQ....</whine>

Shachar

P.s.

You did say "Fedora 12", as in "RedHat based distribution", as in "tons 
and tons of patches over the vanilla kernel", right? What kernel did you 
upgrade to? Was it vanilla?
Sh.

-- 
Shachar Shemesh
Lingnu Open Source Consulting Ltd.
http://www.lingnu.com