10/01/96,
 
  "ps -ef" Displays UID Rather Than User Name
 
 
 
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       Information in this document is correct to the best of our
       knowledge at the time of this writing.  Please send feedback
       by fax to "AIXServ Information" at (512) 823-4009.
 
       Please use this information with care.  IBM will not be
       responsible for damages of any kind resulting from its use.
       The use of this information is the sole responsibility of
       the customer and depends on the customer's ability to eval-
       uate and integrate this information into the customer's
       operational environment.
 
  ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT
 
       This document contains the symptoms and reasons why the "ps
       -ef" command displays a UID rather than a login name.  This
       document is applicable to AIX 3.2 and 4.1.
 
  SYMPTOMS:
 
       o   Running NIS (formerly called Yellow Pages*).
 
       o   The "ps -ef" shows the user ID number in the UID column
           rather than the login name for some users.
 
  REASONS:
 
       There are a few reasons why the "ps -ef" command is dis-
       playing a UID rather than the login name.
 
       1.  If the process was run by a user whose name was removed
           from the /etc/passwd file (i.e. during the running
           process), "ps" will report the UID as the owner of the
           process.
 
       2.  If the /etc/passwd file or the NIS master (or slave)
           server could not be reached at the time the "ps -ef" was
           issued, the UID will replace the login name for a par-
           ticular process.
 
       3.  If the master server modifies the /etc/passwd file, the
           client machine will not immediately show the changes.
           If you add a user to the system on the master machine,
           the local machine will need to re-read the /etc/passwd
           file from the server to notice the changes.  The client
           version of the passwd file contains only a few names and
           the NIS sequence at the end.  Based on the modification
           time, the client may not see the changes.
 
       In AIX releases prior to 3.2.4, the ps command looks at the
       /etc/ps_data file for the login names.  If a name is not
       found in the ps_data file for a particular UID, the UID is
       displayed.  To manually update the ps_data file, you can
       follow these steps:
 
 
                          "ps -ef" Displays UID Rather Than User Name  1
 
 
                                                               10/01/96,
 
       rm /etc/ps_data
       ps U
 
       When you remove the file, ps has to rebuild the ps_data file
       from the information contained in /etc/passwd.  If you are
       finding that users are added or removed between updates of
       the ps_data file, you can write a cron to keep the ps_data
       file current (use the above two commands).
 
       This is not an AIX defect.
 
       o   "Yellow Pages" is a registered trademark in the United
           Kingdom of British Telecommunications plc.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                          "ps -ef" Displays UID Rather Than User Name  2
 
 
                                                               10/01/96,
 
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  END OF DOCUMENT (ps.data.cmd)
 
 
 
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