UID and GID issue

Question

Level 1

20 points

UID and GID issue

Hi all:

this is not a major issue: my new MBP is fully functional. However, I noted the following.

I migrated from my old system. so when I initially created an admin account I called it PRIMUS. My old system is PRIMUS_1. After migration, I deleted PRIMUS.

Now, on mt xterm, if I were to do

id

I get:

uid=502(PRIMUS_1) gid=502(PRIMUS) groups=502(PRIMUS),102(com.apple.sharepoint.group.2),98( lpadmin),81(appserveradm),101(com.apple.sharepoint.group.1),79 (_appserverusr),80(admin)

and

id -gn

PRIMUS

whereas when I look at

ls /Users

I only find Primus_1.

is there any way to change this so that the gid is also primus_1?

I have 10.5.6.

I also looked at dscl- but I am afraid that I am not THAT good with unix commands.

Thanks.

/PH

Mac Book Pro, Mac OS X (10.5.6), 4GB RAM

Posted on Mar 22, 2009 5:12 AM

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Answer 1

V.K.

Level 9

56,192 points

Mar 22, 2009 6:05 AM in response to Primus_Homo

if you want to change your primary group change it to staff (gid=20). that's the default group that leopard users belong to. leopard doesn't use the old tiger system where every user belongs to its own private group. that structure is retained for users imported from tiger but not for the new users.

the easiest and the cleanest way to do this is by recreating your user. make a new admin account. log out of primus_1 and log into that new account. then run

sudo dscl . delete /users/PRIMUS_1

that will delete the directory services entry for PRIMUS_1. restart, go to system preferences->accounts and create a user called PRIMUS_1. It will say that a home directory by that name already exists and ask if you want to use it. say "yes".

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Answer 2

biovizier

Level 5

7,931 points

Mar 22, 2009 6:25 AM in response to Primus_Homo

The above is certainly true and will bring the account in line with Leopard standards.

But just for completeness in addressing the original question, if you prefer a GUI, in Leopard, it should be possible to change the "name" of the group with gid=502 from "Primus" to "Primus_1" using the "Accounts" pref pane.

Use admin credentials to open the "lock", scroll down and open the "disclosure triangle" (if necessary) to view the "Groups" section. Control-click the group of interest to access "Advanced Options", and edit only the "Group Name" field, changing it to what you want.

The ' dscl' equivalent could be along the lines of:<pre>
/usr/bin/sudo /usr/bin/dscl . -change /groups/Primus name PRIMUS PRIMUS_1</pre>

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Answer 3

Primus_Homo Author

Level 1

20 points

Mar 23, 2009 4:58 PM in response to Primus_Homo

Thank you!!!

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Answer 4

Primus_Homo Author

Level 1

20 points

Mar 23, 2009 5:20 PM in response to Primus_Homo

OOps!

i did this using the GUI in pref pane. While changing the advanced options, I also changed the name PRIMUS to PRIMUS_1 on another little box that appeared just right to the advanced options.

All seems to be fine, but now I am afraid that I can't see the group tab on the accounts pane...

did I screw the whole thing up?

on xterm,

id -gn

gives primus_1

and

id

uid=502(PRIMUS_1) gid=502(PRIMUS_1) groups=502(PRIMUS 1),102(com.apple.sharepoint.group.2),98(_lpadmin),81(_appserveradm),101(com.appl e.sharepoint.group.1),79(appserverusr),80(admin)

Do you think that there is anything I need to do, or just not worry about this any more?

I am not sure what i learned- this was really an attempt to learn something!

Thank you!

/PH

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Answer 5

Primus_Homo Author

Level 1

20 points

Mar 23, 2009 6:59 PM in response to V.K.

hi!

When I delete the directory services entry, will it also delete the whole home dir for PRIMUS_1?

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