Question

When I go to save the TWiki Preference file during the install (at the point where I set the email address, etc), I get the following error:

Topic save error
During save of file TWikiPreferences an error was found by the version control system. Please notify your TWiki administrator. /usr/local/bin/ci -q -l -m'none' -t-none -w'myuser' /home/virtual/site1/fst/var/subdomain/ideas/html/twiki/data/TWiki/TWikiPreferences.txt 2>&1
ci: no password entry for userid 22113
ci aborted


Go back in your browser and save your changes locally.

I have checked permissions all night, but am still stuck. When I run the testenv script, it does not return a value for the CGI userid. I am fairly sure that it is apache, but even after setting all files in pub and data to be owned by apache I am still not able to make this work.

Note: this is in an Ensim environment, but I own the entire box and have root access.

Please help me determine where I might be going wrong.

Thanks /Stu

-- StuRench - 11 May 2004

Answer

the "no password entry" line says the user is 22113, not apache.

does this happen with new topics or just topics which were shipped with twiki? If the latter, you probably need to change the RCS locks (or just delete *.txt,v if you don't care to retain the history). Changing the locks is in the install guide. There's a perl one-liner.

-- MattWilkie - 12 May 2004

I have tried this user as well. In the ensim environment, 22113 maps to another user called wiki. Prior to ever modifying the Preference file, I deleted all of the .txt,v files. I just tried creating a new file, and the same thing happens. In the file system, however, 2 new files are created:

As seen by root
-rw-rw-r--    1 22113    admin1         17 May 12 07:04 TestTopic1.lock
-r.w-rw-r--    1 22113    admin1        161 May 12 07:04 TestTopic1.txt

As seen by the domains login (wiki)
-rw-rw-r--    1 wiki     admin          17 May 12 07:04 TestTopic1.lock
-rw-rw-r--    1 wiki     admin         161 May 12 07:04 TestTopic1.txt

If it's useful, here is an excerpt from the testenv script output:
User:
Note: Your CGI scripts are executing as this user.
Warning: Since your CGI script is not running as user nobody, you need to change the locks in the *,v RCS files of the TWiki distribution from nobody to . Otherwise, changes to topics will not be logged by RCS.
Group(s):
admin1 admin1

-- StuRench - 12 May 2004

I don't know anything about Ensim, but I would hazard a guess that since testenv can't figure out who the cgi user is, neither can the rest of twiki. I think you need a more experienced eye on this one. Try TWikiIRC if nobody else chips in here.

-- MattWilkie - 13 May 2004

All to no avail still...I am taking any suggestions that I can get. Desperation to ensue.

-- StuRench - 14 May 2004

Hi, I have returned from vacation and would like to address this problem still. Does anyone here have any more ideas for this situation?

-- StuRench - 16 Jun 2004

Try putting the following script into your twiki bin directory and invoking it:

#!/bin/sh
echo "Content-type: text/plain"
echo ""
whoami

Besides whoami you can use whatever other UNIX commands you need to to determine the nature of the apache user. That may help. But it sounds as if something is badly screwed in your apache setup. I suspect you need an apache expert, not a TWiki expert.

-- CrawfordCurrie - 17 Jun 2004

Regardless of whatever else you find, you'll want to make note that the username your rcs "ci" command is using (-w'myuser') doesn't match. I forgot where to set it, but I believe there is a configuration option for this. Also isn't there something in MegaTwiki dealing with "rcs" and user names which start with a numeric value?

Also, take a look at RcsLite.

-- TomKagan - 19 Jul 2004

Ensim issue: The checkin problem with message ci: no password entry for userid 22113 is shown because rcs can't find the user. This is caused by different environment of Apache and shell login.

Assuming you are on site3, user jsmith. On shell you are jailed, your entry in /etc/passwd might be:
jsmith:x:22113:504:John Smith:/home/jsmith:/bin/bash

Apache is serving all virtual sites, it sees the master (not jailed) /etc/passwd. This password file does not contain the users of the virtual sites (except for the admins). That is why RCS can't find you when you save a topic.

I have not found a clean fix for this, but here is something that works: If you have root access to the machine (or you can persuade your provider), you can add your entry to the master password file. Make sure to specify the correct path to home. Example:
jsmith:x:22113:504:John Smith:/home/virtual/site3/fst/home/jsmith:/bin/bash

-- PeterThoeny - 21 Jul 2004