removing a user - permanently

[Bill Walker CS Faculty]

We have just installed a brand-spanking new Altos 5000 running
"SCO Unix".  This thing has two levels of "security" that can be selected
at installation time for the OS.  One level is "C2", and seems to provide
a lot of audit trails and so forth.

The other level, called "relaxed" by SCO, looks more like the usual Unix.
It does not however store encrypted passwords in /etc/passwd, but instead
keeps the passwords, and other information in a data base under a directory
called "/tcb".  We have chosen "relaxed" security.

The problem comes when we try to remove a user from the system, or find it
necessary to change a user's user number.  (This is sometimes required when
using TCP/IP, and the number needs to match a user number on another system.)

The manuals ALL caution the operator NOT to mess with /etc/passwd
or any of the /tcb files with an editor.  The manuals apparently mean
it, too.  I had to reload everything a couple of times before I believed
it.

There is a "shell" called "sysadmsh" that purports to handle all
administrative chores via a (heaven help us) menu.  It allows
you to "retire" a user, but does not allow you to flat remove a
user from the system.  Adding a user also requires working your way
through this menu.  

I find this repulsive, as well as inefficient.  Also, the thought that 
I cannot remove a user altogether really bugs me, since this
is a university, and we often have to add or delete 300 or so
users in a single day.

I tried to remove a user by removing the line from /etc/passwd, and
tracking down all the seemingly relevant files under /tcb, but managed
only to make a real mess.

Has anyone else had to deal with this ?  How did you solve it ?  We
are missing a couple of manuals, and that may be part of the problem.
However, I suspect that the problem may lie in the bowels of the OS, rather
than in the manuals.

Any suggestions ?

I would appreciate e-mail on the topic.  If the situation warrents, I
will be glad to summarize and post.

Bill Walker
East Central University
Ada, Oklahoma

bw at cs.ecok.edu