You may encounter several different problems when using the accounting system. You may need to resolve file ownership and permissions problems.
This section describes how to fix general accounting problems:
You must have root user or adm group authority.
To use the accounting system, file ownership and permissions must be correct. The adm administrative account owns the accounting command and scripts, except for /var/adm/acct/accton which is owned by root.
ls -l /var/adm/acct -rws--x--- 1 adm adm 14628 Mar 19 08:11 /var/adm/acct/fiscal -rws--x--- 1 adm adm 14628 Mar 19 08:11 /var/adm/acct/nite -rws--x--- 1 adm adm 14628 Mar 19 08:11 /var/adm/acct/sum
cd /var/adm/acct
chown adm sum/* nite/* fiscal/*To prevent tampering by users trying to avoid charges, deny write permission for others on these files. Change the accton command's group owner to adm, and permissions to 710, that is, no permissions for others. (Processes owned by adm will be able to execute the accton command, but ordinary users will not.)
/var/adm/acct/startup: /var/adm/wtmp: Permission deniedTo correct the ownership of /var/adm/wtmp, change ownership to the adm group by using the following command:
chown adm /var/adm/wtmp
Processing the /var/adm/wtmp file may produce some warnings mailed to root. The wtmp file contains information collected by /etc/init and /bin/login and is used by accounting scripts primarily for calculating connect time (the length of time a user is logged in). Unfortunately, date changes confuse the program that processes the wtmp file. As a result, the runacct command will send mail to root and adm complaining of any errors after a date change since the last time accounting was run.
The acctcon1 command outputs error messages that are mailed to adm and root by the runacct command. For example, if the acctcon1 command stumbles after a date change and fails to collect connect times, adm might get mail like the following mail message:
Mon Jan 6 11:58:40 CST 1992 acctcon1: bad times: old: Tue Jan 7 00:57:14 1992 new: Mon Jan 6 11:57:59 1992 acctcon1: bad times: old: Tue Jan 7 00:57:14 1992 new: Mon Jan 6 11:57:59 1992 acctcon1: bad times: old: Tue Jan 7 00:57:14 1992 new: Mon Jan 6 11:57:59 1992
/usr/sbin/acct/wtmpfix wtmpThe wtmpfix command examines the wtmp file for date and time-stamp inconsistencies and corrects problems that could make acctcon1 fail. However, some date changes slip by wtmpfix. See "Fixing wtmp Errors" .
Using the runacct command at these times minimizes the number of entries with bad times. The runacct command will continue to send mail to the root and adm accounts, until you edit the runacct script, find the WTMPFIX section, and comment out the line where the file log gets mailed to the root and adm accounts.
The runacct command processes files that are often very large. The procedure involves several passes through certain files and consumes considerable system resources while it is taking place. That's why the runacct command is normally run early in the morning when it can take over the machine and not disturb anyone.
The runacct command is a scrip divided into different stages. The stages allow you to restart the command where it stopped, without having to rerun the entire script.
When the runacct encounters problems, it sends error messages to different destinations depending on where the error occurred. Usually it sends a date and a message to the console directing you to look in the activeMMDD file (such as active0621 for June 21st) which is in the /usr/adm/acct/nite directory. When the runacct command aborts, it moves the entire active file to activeMMDD and appends a message describing the problem.
Preliminary State and Error Messages from the runnacct Command | ||||
State | Command | Fatal? | Error Message | Destinations |
pre | runacct | yes | * 2 CRONS or ACCT PROBLEMS * ERROR: locks found, run aborted | console, mail, active |
pre | runacct | yes | runacct: Insufficient space in /usr ( nnn blks); Terminating procedure | console, mail, active |
pre | runacct | yes | SE message; ERROR: acctg already run for 'date': check lastdate | console, mail, activeMMDD |
pre | runacct | no | * SYSTEM ACCOUNTING STARTED * | console |
pre | runacct | no | restarting acctg for 'date' at STATE | console active, console |
pre | runacct | no | restarting acctg for 'date' at state (argument $2) previous state was STATE | active |
pre | runacct | yes | SE message; Error: runacct called with invalid arguments | console, mail, activeMMDD |
States and Error Messages from the runacct Command | ||||
State | Command | Fatal? | Error Message | Destinations |
SETUP | runacct | no | ls -l fee pacct* /var/adm/wtmp | active |
SETUP | runacct | yes | SE message; ERROR: turnacct switch returned rc=error | console, mail, activeMMDD |
SETUP | runacct | yes | SE message; ERROR: SpacctMMDD already exists file setups probably already run | activeMMDD |
SETUP | runacct | yes | SE message; ERROR: wtmpMMDD already exists: run setup manually | console, mail, activeMMDD |
WTMPFIX | wtmpfix | no | SE message; ERROR: wtmpfix errors see xtmperrorMMDD | activeMMDD, wtmperrorMMDD |
WTMPFIX | wtmpfix | no | wtmp processing complete | active |
CONNECT1 | acctcon1 | no | SE message; (errors from acctcon1 log) | console, mail, activeMMDD |
CONNECT2 | acctcon2 | no | connect acctg complete | active |
PROCESS | runacct | no | WARNING: accounting already run for pacct N | active |
PROCESS | acctprc1 acctprc2 | no | process acctg complete for SpacctNMMDD | active |
PROCESS | runacct | no | all process actg complete for date | active |
MERGE | acctmerg | no | tacct merge to create dayacct complete | active |
FEES | acctmerg | no | merged fees OR no fees | active |
DISK | acctmerg | no | merged disk records OR no disk records | active |
MERGEACCT | acctmerg | no | WARNING: recreating sum/tacct | active |
MERGEACCT | acctmerg | no | updated sum/tacct | active |
CMS | runacct | no | WARNING: recreating sum/cms | active |
CMS | acctcms | no | command summaries complete | active |
CLEANUP | runacct | no | system accounting completed at 'date' | active |
CLEANUP | runacct | no | *SYSTEM ACCOUNTING COMPLETED* | console |
<wrong> | runacct | yes | SE message; ERROR: invalid state, check STATE | console, mail, activeMMDD |
Note: The label <wrong> in the previous table does not represent a state, but rather a state other than the correct state that was written in the state file /usr/adm/acct/nite/statefile.
Summary of Message Destinations | |
Destination | Description |
console | The /dev/console device |
Message mailed to root and adm accounts | |
active | The /usr/adm/acct/nite/active file |
activeMMDD | The /usr/adm/acct/nite/activeMMDD file |
wtmperrMMDD | The /usr/adm/acct/nite/wtmperrorMMDD file |
STATE | Current state in /usr/adm/acct/nite/statefile file |
fd2log | Any other error messages |
The abbreviation MMDD stands for the month and day, such as 0102 for January 2. For example, a fatal error during the CONNECT1 process on January 2 would create the file active0102 containing the error message.
The abbreviation "SE message" stands for the standard error message such as:
********* ACCT ERRORS : see active0102 *********
The acctcon1 command (started from the runacct command) sends mail to the root and adm accounts when the /usr/lib/acct/holidays file gets out of date. The holidays file is out of date after the last holiday listed has passed or the year has changed.
Update the out-of-date holidays file by editing the /var/adm/acct/holidays file to differentiate between prime and nonprime time.
Prime time is assumed to be the period when your system is most active, such as workdays. Saturdays and Sundays are always nonprime times for the accounting system, as are any holidays that you list.
The holidays file contains three types of entries: comments, the year and prime-time period, and a list of holidays as in the following example:
* Prime/Non-Prime Time Table for Accounting System * * Curr Prime Non-Prime * Year Start Start 1992 0830 1700 * * Day of Calendar Company * Year Date Holiday * * 1 Jan 1 New Year's Day * 20 Jan 20 Martin Luther King Day * 46 Feb 15 President's Day * 143 May 28 Memorial Day * 186 Jul 3 4th of July * 248 Sep 7 Labor Day * 329 Nov 24 Thanksgiving * 330 Nov 25 Friday after * 359 Dec 24 Christmas Eve * 360 Dec 25 Christmas Day * 361 Dec 26 Day after Christmas
The first noncomment line must specify the current year (as four digits) and the beginning and end of prime time, also as four digits each. The concept of prime and nonprime time only affects the way that the accounting programs process the accounting records.
If the list of holidays is too long, the acctcon1 command will generate an error, and you will need to shorten your list. You are safe with 20 or fewer holidays. If you want to add more holidays, just edit the holidays file each month.