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jeremykennedy's avatar
Jul 13, 2018

user name already exists - readynas NVX

I know this is an old unit, but it still works for us just fine.  But I'm trying to set up a bunch of new local users on the device, and a few that I wanted to create, it says "user name already exists".  These are just people's first names, so they're not conflicting with any of the built in accounts.

But when I look at the list of user accounts, these users don't exist.  They do have the same name as a share however, is that an issue?

 

For example, I have a share named "andrea", and want to create a user for "andrea", but that's when I get the error.  And for a few other users as well.

 

Hoping someone can help.

 

Thanks

5 Replies

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  • StephenB's avatar
    StephenB
    Guru - Experienced User

    Do you have ssh enabled?  It shouldn't be difficult to list the accounts Linux sees from the command line, and delete these conflicting "first name" accounts.

    • jeremykennedy's avatar
      jeremykennedy
      Aspirant

      No, I don't have SSH enabled . . . . I always read the disclaimers that enabling SSH on there was bad. :)

       

      I can give it a go though.  I don't know any linux however.  Is there a list of commands that can show the users?  And assuming it can see them from the command line . . how can I see them in the GUI so that I can assign permissions?

      • StephenB's avatar
        StephenB
        Guru - Experienced User

        jeremykennedy wrote:

        No, I don't have SSH enabled . . . . I always read the disclaimers that enabling SSH on there was bad. :)

         


        They can and likely will deny support if you do damage with the command line.  If that were to happen, you'd need to do a factory default procedure and restore the data from backup.

         


        jeremykennedy wrote:

         

        I can give it a go though.  I don't know any linux however.  Is there a list of commands that can show the users?  And assuming it can see them from the command line . . how can I see them in the GUI so that I can assign permissions?


        I was thinking you could begin by simply getting a list of the user groups and accounts.

         

        If you use a mac, then you'd connect to the NAS with terminal.  Otherwise you'd use an application called putty.  You log in as root, using the admin password.

         

        You see the full list of users and groups by entering cat /etc/passwd

        The cat command just lists a file (in this case /etc/passwd).

         

        On my pro 6 (running 4.2.31), it looks like this:

        PRO:~# cat /etc/passwd
        root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
        daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/var/local/:/bin/false
        bin:x:2:2:bin:/var/local/:/bin/false
        sys:x:3:3:sys:/var/local/:/bin/false
        sync:x:4:65534:sync:/var/local/:/bin/sync
        man:x:6:12:man:/var/local/:/bin/false
        lp:x:7:7:lp:/var/local/:/bin/false
        mail:x:8:8:mail:/var/local/:/bin/false
        proxy:x:13:13:proxy:/var/local/:/bin/false
        avahi:x:20:20::/var/local/:/bin/false
        messagebus:x:21:21::/var/local/:/bin/false
        www-data:x:33:33:www-data:/var/local/:/bin/false
        sshd:x:40:65534::/var/local/:/usr/sbin/nologin
        statd:x:41:65534::/var/local/:/bin/false
        ftp:x:97:97::/home/ftp:/bin/false
        mysql:x:44:54:MySQL Server,,,:/var/local/:/bin/false
        admin:x:98:98::/c/home/admin:/bin/false
        nobody:x:65534:65534:nobody:/var/local/:/bin/false
        backup:x:1000:65534::/c/backup:/bin/false
        ReadyNAS:x:96:65534::/var/lib/timemachine:/bin/false ...

        Every share will also be included in the list.  Note that means that you can't create a user account if the username matches an existing sharename.  If Andrea and the other problematic accounts don't show up, then there must be some other issue, and you should post back.

         

         

         

        The command to delete a linux user is userdel.  For instance 

        # userdel Andrea

        Obviously you want to be really careful when running that command.

         


        jeremykennedy wrote:

        how can I see them in the GUI so that I can assign permissions?


        Once the stray account is deleted, you should be able to create a new one from the GUI and manage it.

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