Connecting to other computers with UUCP

Creating login accounts for sites dialing in

A dial-in site must provide a login entry for the sites that call it.

A UUCP login account is the same as an ordinary user account but it has a special login directory and login program instead of the normal user directory and shell.

NOTE: ``uucp'' should not be used as the name of a UUCP user or login account. It is the name of the UUCP owner or administrator.

To create a UUCP login entry:

Choose a new user name and a user ID (identification number) for the UUCP login. The name can be any combination of letters and digits that is no more than eight characters long. The user ID must be an integer in the range 50 to 65535.
Make sure the name and ID are unique. A UUCP login entry must not have the same name or ID as any other login entry.
Use the following information to create the account:

Login shell: uucp (/usr/lib/uucp/uucico)
Home directory: /usr/spool/uucplogins/username
To create an account, see ``Adding and modifying user accounts''.

Passwords are optional, but recommended, for UUCP logins. For information about what happens when a UUCP system with no account tries to dial in, see ``Preventing unknown sites from logging in''.

Disabling password expiration and locks for UUCP accounts

UUCP login accounts are created with no password expiration. To alter this, see ``Controlling password expiration''.

NOTE: Remember that UUCP login accounts are used by remote systems using a login script which cannot cope with a prompt for a new password. For this reason it is sensible to set up an infinite password expiration, with the password changed manually in consultation with the remote site using that UUCP login.

If you have difficulties with UUCP accounts being locked (messages like dead account are displayed), you can change the number of login attempts by selecting as described in ``Locking or unlocking a user account''.