Debian Bug report logs - #118023
nis: Cannot restart nis on master without rebooting -> breaks postinst

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Message #5 received at submit@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@mit.edu>

To: Debian Bug Tracking System <submit@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: nis: Cannot restart nis on master without rebooting -> breaks postinst

Date: Fri, 02 Nov 2001 09:21:43 -0500

Package: nis
Version: 3.9-6
Severity: important

Greetings,

My NIS master server seems to be working fine, mostly, but 
unfortunately, the last upgrade hung in the configure stage.  This 
forced a reboot, after which NIS started just fine.

But when I went to dpkg --configure it, it listed the four services it 
was restarting, then hung for a few minutes, then said it was connecting 
to the server, then did the dots thing -- it failed.  And the clients 
could no longer connect.  So I rebooted again, and it was fine again.

But every dist-upgrade tries to dpkg --configure again, and my clients 
hang again until I reboot the server.

Any ideas on what the probem could be?  How can I help troubleshoot? 
Also, this is my research group's production server (so why am I 
running unstable on it? :-), so the hours when I can try a fix are 
limited, and it may take a while...

Thanks,
-- 

-Adam P.

GPG fingerprint: D54D 1AEE B11C CE9B A02B  C5DD 526F 01E8 564E E4B6

Welcome to the best software in the world today cafe!
<http://lyre.mit.edu/%7Epowell/The_Best_Stuff_In_The_World_Today_Cafe.ogg>

-- System Information
Debian Release: testing/unstable
Kernel Version: Linux lyre 2.4.9-686-smp #1 SMP Sun Aug 19 11:17:05 EST 
2001 i686 unknown

Versions of the packages nis depends on:
ii  debconf        1.0.17         Debian configuration management system
ii  libc6          2.2.4-4        GNU C Library: Shared libraries and 
Timezone
ii  libgdbmg1      1.7.3-27       GNU dbm database routines (runtime 
version).
ii  make           3.79.1-10      The GNU version of the "make" utility.
ii  netbase        4.06           Basic TCP/IP networking system
ii  portmap        5-2            The RPC portmapper

--- Begin /etc/netgroup (modified conffile)
trusted (masterhost,,) (client1,,) (client2,,) (client3,,) (client4,,)

Message #10 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@mit.edu>

To: Debian Bug Tracking System <118023@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: Re: nis: Cannot restart nis on master without rebooting -> breaks postinst

Date: Fri, 02 Nov 2001 12:39:07 -0500

Adam C Powell IV wrote:

> Package: nis
> Version: 3.9-6
> Severity: important
>
> Greetings,
>
> My NIS master server seems to be working fine, mostly, but 
> unfortunately, the last upgrade hung in the configure stage.  This 
> forced a reboot, after which NIS started just fine.

A detail: by "hung", I mean it sat there and didn't do anything, not 
that it hung the machine.  ^C got me right out.

I just remembered something: last time I had an RPC problem, it was a 
kernel version issue, that time with knfsd, and a problem with kernels 
through 2.2.16.  See bugs 52965 (nis), 76544 (nfs-kernel-server). 
Here's an excerpt from one of Chip Salzenberg's emails on 76544:

> Ah, OK ... IIRC, that's a kernel bug: older versions of knfsd didn't
> release the socket they were using, so you had to restart the machine
> any time you restart knfsd.

I did have trouble restarting knfsd during the last nfs-kernel-server 
update also, but that works now, it successfully restarted during the 
last dpkg --configure --pending.

Could this be related?  I'm running 2.4.9 on this machine.

Zeen,
Zeen,
-- 

-Adam P.

GPG fingerprint: D54D 1AEE B11C CE9B A02B  C5DD 526F 01E8 564E E4B6

Welcome to the best software in the world today cafe! 
<http://lyre.mit.edu/%7Epowell/The_Best_Stuff_In_The_World_Today_Cafe.ogg>

Message #15 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Miquel van Smoorenburg <miquels@cistron.nl>

To: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@mit.edu>, 118023@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#118023: nis: Cannot restart nis on master without rebooting -> breaks postinst

Date: Sat, 3 Nov 2001 02:20:06 +0100

According to Adam C Powell IV:
> > My NIS master server seems to be working fine, mostly, but 
> > unfortunately, the last upgrade hung in the configure stage.  This 
> > forced a reboot, after which NIS started just fine.
> 
> A detail: by "hung", I mean it sat there and didn't do anything, not 
> that it hung the machine.  ^C got me right out.

Can you do a "ps auxf > ps.out" on another console or in another
xterm and mail that? I think I've seen a similar problem with the
isdn package, it was hung in debconf.

Oh one more thing. After the reboot, does /etc/init.d/nis restart
work as expected?

Mike.
-- 
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity,
 and I'm not sure about the former" -- Albert Einstein.

Message #20 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@mit.edu>

To: Miquel van Smoorenburg <miquels@cistron.nl>

Cc: 118023@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#118023: nis: Cannot restart nis on master without rebooting -> breaks postinst

Date: Thu, 08 Nov 2001 08:49:24 -0500

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

Hello,

Miquel van Smoorenburg wrote:

>According to Adam C Powell IV:
>
>>>My NIS master server seems to be working fine, mostly, but 
>>>unfortunately, the last upgrade hung in the configure stage.  This 
>>>forced a reboot, after which NIS started just fine.
>>>
>>A detail: by "hung", I mean it sat there and didn't do anything, not 
>>that it hung the machine.  ^C got me right out.
>>
>
>Can you do a "ps auxf > ps.out" on another console or in another
>xterm and mail that? I think I've seen a similar problem with the
>isdn package, it was hung in debconf.
>
I've attached the beginning through the NIS stuff with the server 
running normally (after reboot).

>Oh one more thing. After the reboot, does /etc/init.d/nis restart
>work as expected?
>
No, this is where the hang happens.  I've attached the output of ps auxf 
during this hang.  /etc/init.d/nis start only works during reboot.

This server is also running knfsd and afsd, I think those are the only 
other kernel-related services.  If you need more ps auxf output, I've 
saved the files and can send you other sections.

Zeen,
-- 

-Adam P.

GPG fingerprint: D54D 1AEE B11C CE9B A02B  C5DD 526F 01E8 564E E4B6

Welcome to the best software in the world today cafe! 
<http://lyre.mit.edu/%7Epowell/The_Best_Stuff_In_The_World_Today_Cafe.ogg>

[psauwxf (text/plain, inline)]

After reboot:
USER       PID %CPU %MEM   VSZ  RSS TTY      STAT START   TIME COMMAND
root         8  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        SW   08:26   0:00 [kupdated]
root         7  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        SW   08:26   0:00 [bdflush]
root         6  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        SW   08:26   0:00 [kreclaimd]
root         5  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        SW   08:26   0:00 [kswapd]
root         4  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        SWN  08:26   0:00 [ksoftirqd_CPU1]
root         3  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        SWN  08:26   0:00 [ksoftirqd_CPU0]
root         1  0.0  0.1  1300  520 ?        S    08:26   0:00 init [2] 
root         2  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        SW   08:26   0:00 [keventd]
root        56  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        SW<  08:26   0:00 [mdrecoveryd]
root        85  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        SW<  08:26   0:00 [raid5d]
root       150  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        SW   08:26   0:00 [eth2]
daemon     156  0.0  0.1  1536  692 ?        S    08:26   0:00 /sbin/portmap
root       235  0.0  0.1  2072  832 ?        S    08:26   0:00 /sbin/syslogd
root       238  0.0  0.2  1840 1052 ?        S    08:26   0:00 /sbin/klogd
root       254  0.0  0.5  3560 2716 ?        S    08:26   0:00 /usr/sbin/ypserv
root       257  0.0  0.1  1564  532 ?        S    08:26   0:00 /usr/sbin/rpc.yppasswdd -D /etc -e chsh
root       260  0.0  0.1  1548  628 ?        S    08:26   0:00 /usr/sbin/rpc.ypxfrd
root       268  0.0  0.1  5668  824 ?        S    08:26   0:00 /usr/sbin/ypbind
root       269  0.0  0.1  5668  824 ?        S    08:26   0:00  \_ /usr/sbin/ypbind
root       270  0.0  0.1  5668  824 ?        S    08:26   0:00      \_ /usr/sbin/ypbind
root       271  0.0  0.1  5668  824 ?        S    08:26   0:00      \_ /usr/sbin/ypbind
root       280  0.0  0.1 11920  956 ?        S    08:26   0:00 /usr/sbin/nscd
[snip]

I try /etc/init.d/nis restart, and get:
Starting NIS services: ypserv yppasswdd ypxfrd ypbind [binding to YP server ....

During that, ps auxf looks like:
USER       PID %CPU %MEM   VSZ  RSS TTY      STAT START   TIME COMMAND
root         8  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        SW   Nov02   0:44 [kupdated]
root         7  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        SW   Nov02   0:01 [bdflush]
root         6  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        SW   Nov02   0:00 [kreclaimd]
root         5  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        SW   Nov02   1:14 [kswapd]
root         4  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        SWN  Nov02   0:00 [ksoftirqd_CPU1]
root         3  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        SWN  Nov02   0:00 [ksoftirqd_CPU0]
root         1  0.0  0.0  1300  120 ?        S    Nov02   0:00 init [2] 
root         2  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        SW   Nov02   0:00 [keventd]
root        56  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        SW<  Nov02   0:00 [mdrecoveryd]
root        85  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        SW<  Nov02   0:47 [raid5d]
root       150  0.0  0.0     0    0 ?        SW   Nov02   0:00 [eth2]
daemon     156  0.0  0.0  1548  500 ?        S    Nov02   0:17 /sbin/portmap
root       214  0.0  0.0  2072  276 ?        S    Nov02   0:01 /sbin/syslogd
root       217  0.0  0.1  1840  616 ?        S    Nov02   0:00 /sbin/klogd
root       259  0.0  0.1 11940  568 ?        S    Nov02   0:01 /usr/sbin/nscd
[snip]
root      9148  0.0  0.0  1284   64 tty1     S    Nov07   0:00 /sbin/getty 38400
root     12821  0.0  0.1  1488  616 ?        S    08:19   0:00 /usr/sbin/ypserv
root     12824  0.0  0.1  1552  516 ?        S    08:19   0:00 /usr/sbin/rpc.ypp
root     12827  0.0  0.1  1536  612 ?        S    08:19   0:00 /usr/sbin/rpc.ypx
root     12834  0.0  0.1  3528  720 ?        S    08:19   0:00 /usr/sbin/ypbind
root     12835  0.0  0.1  3528  720 ?        S    08:19   0:00  \_ /usr/sbin/ypb
root     12836  0.0  0.1  3528  720 ?        S    08:19   0:00      \_ /usr/sbin

Message #25 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Miquel van Smoorenburg <miquels@cistron.nl>

To: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@mit.edu>

Cc: 118023@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#118023: nis: Cannot restart nis on master without rebooting -> breaks postinst

Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2001 16:26:51 +0100

According to Adam C Powell IV:
> >>A detail: by "hung", I mean it sat there and didn't do anything, not 
> >>that it hung the machine.  ^C got me right out.
> >
> >Can you do a "ps auxf > ps.out" on another console or in another
> >xterm and mail that? I think I've seen a similar problem with the
> >isdn package, it was hung in debconf.
> >
> >Oh one more thing. After the reboot, does /etc/init.d/nis restart
> >work as expected?
> >
> No, this is where the hang happens.  I've attached the output of ps auxf 
> during this hang.  /etc/init.d/nis start only works during reboot.
> 
> I try /etc/init.d/nis restart, and get:
> Starting NIS services: ypserv yppasswdd ypxfrd ypbind [binding to YP server ....

Ah, so it doesn't just hang saying nothing, it does say something-
it says "binding to YP server dot dot dot ..."

Are you sure you are using the latest NIS package? If it fails to
bind to the NIS server it will give up after 10 seconds and
print "backgrounded".

> During that, ps auxf looks like:

It doesn't look like you included the complete ps auxf output.
The listing doesn't make sense. I don't see you logged in on
another console actually doing the /etc/init.d/reload

In fact the included listing shows that everything is 100% OK
and it clearly isn't ...

Mike.
-- 
"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity,
 and I'm not sure about the former" -- Albert Einstein.

Message #30 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@mit.edu>

To: Miquel van Smoorenburg <miquels@cistron.nl>

Cc: 118023@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#118023: nis: Cannot restart nis on master without rebooting -> breaks postinst

Date: Fri, 09 Nov 2001 18:04:07 -0500

Miquel van Smoorenburg wrote:

>According to Adam C Powell IV:
>
>>>>A detail: by "hung", I mean it sat there and didn't do anything, not 
>>>>that it hung the machine.  ^C got me right out.
>>>>
>>>Can you do a "ps auxf > ps.out" on another console or in another
>>>xterm and mail that? I think I've seen a similar problem with the
>>>isdn package, it was hung in debconf.
>>>
>>>Oh one more thing. After the reboot, does /etc/init.d/nis restart
>>>work as expected?
>>>
>>No, this is where the hang happens.  I've attached the output of ps auxf 
>>during this hang.  /etc/init.d/nis start only works during reboot.
>>
>>I try /etc/init.d/nis restart, and get:
>>Starting NIS services: ypserv yppasswdd ypxfrd ypbind [binding to YP server ....
>>
>
>Ah, so it doesn't just hang saying nothing, it does say something-
>it says "binding to YP server dot dot dot ..."
>
>Are you sure you are using the latest NIS package? If it fails to
>bind to the NIS server it will give up after 10 seconds and
>print "backgrounded".
>
% dpkg -l nis
Desired=Unknown/Install/Remove/Purge/Hold
| Status=Not/Installed/Config-files/Unpacked/Failed-config/Half-installed
|/ Err?=(none)/Hold/Reinst-required/X=both-problems (Status,Err: 
uppercase=bad)
||/ Name           Version        Description
+++-==============-==============-============================================
iF  nis            3.9-6          Clients and daemons for the Network 
Informat

I've seen that behavior (backgrounded) on our alpha clients, but not on 
this master NIS server.

>>During that, ps auxf looks like:
>>
>
>It doesn't look like you included the complete ps auxf output.
>The listing doesn't make sense. I don't see you logged in on
>another console actually doing the /etc/init.d/reload
>
Right, this is a production server, and for security reasons I'm not 
sure I want folk with BTS access (like, everyone) knowing exactly what's 
running on it.  I'll send you the whole thing separately.

>In fact the included listing shows that everything is 100% OK
>and it clearly isn't ...
>
That's the funny thing, I don't see anything wrong either...

Thanks,
-- 

Adam Powell http://lyre.mit.edu/~powell/ <http://lyre.mit.edu/%7Epowell/>
Thomas B. King Assistant Professor of Materials Engineering
77 Massachusetts Ave. Rm. 4-117 Phone (617) 452-2086
Cambridge, MA 02139 USA Fax (617) 253-5418

Message #35 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>

To: Miquel van Smoorenburg <miquels@cistron.nl>

Cc: 118023@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#118023: nis: Cannot restart nis on master without rebooting -> breaks postinst

Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 14:20:01 -0400

Hello,

Bad news: this problem is still around, postinst still hangs when
starting NIS services on my NIS master server.  Fortunately, this has
not been so much of a problem during reboots lately, but when trying
"apt-get install --reinstall nis", the problem recurred.

Oh well.

On Fri, 2001-11-09 at 18:04 -0500, Adam C Powell IV wrote:
> Miquel van Smoorenburg wrote:
> 
> >According to Adam C Powell IV:
> >
> >>>>A detail: by "hung", I mean it sat there and didn't do anything, not 
> >>>>that it hung the machine.  ^C got me right out.
-Adam
-- 
GPG fingerprint: D54D 1AEE B11C CE9B A02B  C5DD 526F 01E8 564E E4B6

Welcome to the best software in the world today cafe!
http://www.take6.com/albums/greatesthits.html

Message #40 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Mark Brown <broonie@debian.org>

To: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>, 118023@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#118023: nis: Cannot restart nis on master without rebooting -> breaks postinst

Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 14:06:06 +0300

On Mon, Jul 11, 2005 at 02:20:01PM -0400, Adam C Powell IV wrote:

> Bad news: this problem is still around, postinst still hangs when
> starting NIS services on my NIS master server.  Fortunately, this has
> not been so much of a problem during reboots lately, but when trying
> "apt-get install --reinstall nis", the problem recurred.

What does strace think the hung process is up to (try attaching to it
after it has started with -p)?  Which version are you using to reproduce
at the minute?

-- 
"You grabbed my hand and we fell into it, like a daydream - or a fever."

Message #49 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>

To: 118023@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#118023: nis: Cannot restart nis on master without rebooting -> breaks postinst

Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2005 12:10:09 -0400

On Tue, 2005-07-12 at 14:06 +0300, Mark Brown wrote:
> On Mon, Jul 11, 2005 at 02:20:01PM -0400, Adam C Powell IV wrote:
> 
> > Bad news: this problem is still around, postinst still hangs when
> > starting NIS services on my NIS master server.  Fortunately, this has
> > not been so much of a problem during reboots lately, but when trying
> > "apt-get install --reinstall nis", the problem recurred.
> 
> What does strace think the hung process is up to (try attaching to it
> after it has started with -p)?  Which version are you using to reproduce
> at the minute?

The sarge release, 3.13-2, sorry I wasn't specific.  I'll send strace
info tomorrow when I have physical access to the machine again.

-Adam
-- 
GPG fingerprint: D54D 1AEE B11C CE9B A02B  C5DD 526F 01E8 564E E4B6

Welcome to the best software in the world today cafe!
http://www.take6.com/albums/greatesthits.html

Message #54 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Mark Brown <broonie@debian.org>

To: Adam C Powell IV <hazelsct@debian.org>, 118023@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#118023: nis: Cannot restart nis on master without rebooting -> breaks postinst

Date: Sun, 31 Jul 2005 23:23:22 +0100

On Tue, Jul 12, 2005 at 12:10:09PM -0400, Adam C Powell IV wrote:

> The sarge release, 3.13-2, sorry I wasn't specific.  I'll send strace
> info tomorrow when I have physical access to the machine again.

Any news on this?

-- 
"You grabbed my hand and we fell into it, like a daydream - or a fever."

Message #59 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>

To: 213733@bugs.debian.org, 118023@bugs.debian.org

Cc: Debian BTS control <control@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: nis: upgrade breaks postinst and service restart

Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:24:07 +1000

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

package nis
found 213733 3.17-27
tags 213733 - moreinfo
found 118023 3.17-27
tags 118023 - moreinfo
thanks

On 02-Oct-2003, Paul Schulz wrote:
> Upgrade NIS in testing distribution and NIS fails to restart.
> 
> The usual messages is reported.
>   Starting NIS services: ypbind [binding to YP server .......... backgrounded]
> 
> NIS can be stopped and restarted several times with the same result.
> (It was running previously without a problem.)

I have exactly the same problem on upgrading to version 3.17-27, with
this output:

=====
$ sudo /etc/init.d/nis restart
Stopping NIS services: ypbind ypserv ypppasswdd ypxfrd.
Starting NIS services: ypserv yppasswdd ypxfrd ypbindbinding to YP server...........................................failed (backgrounded).
.
=====

> If 'ypbind' is started manually,
> 
>   # /usr/sbin/ypbind -f /etc/defaultdomain
> 
> The follwoing error is reported..
> 
>   io:~# /usr/sbin/ypbind -f /etc/defaultdomain
>   No NIS server and no -broadcast option specified.
>   Add a NIS server to the /etc/defaultdomain configuration file,
>   or start ypbind with the -broadcast option.

=====
$ sudo kill $(cat /var/run/ypbind.pid)  # the restart left a process that will retry indefinitely

$ ps -ef | grep '[y]p'
root     16875     1  0 12:45 ?        00:00:00 /usr/sbin/ypserv
root     16878     1  0 12:45 ?        00:00:00 /usr/sbin/rpc.yppasswdd -D /etc -e chsh -e chfn
root     16881     1  0 12:45 ?        00:00:00 /usr/sbin/rpc.ypxfrd

$ grep -v '^\(#.*\|\)$' /etc/yp.conf    # don't show comment or empty lines

$ sudo /usr/sbin/ypbind -f /etc/yp.conf
No NIS server and no -broadcast option specified.
Add a NIS server to the /etc/yp.conf configuration file,
or start ypbind with the -broadcast option.
=====

> BUT
> If this option is put in, then ypbind starts properly 
> and then (surprisingly) NIS works again as expected.

Restarting manually with the ‘-broadcast’ option doesn't help:

=====
$ ps -ef | grep '[y]p'
root     16875     1  0 12:45 ?        00:00:00 /usr/sbin/ypserv
root     16878     1  0 12:45 ?        00:00:00 /usr/sbin/rpc.yppasswdd -D /etc -e chsh -e chfn
root     16881     1  0 12:45 ?        00:00:00 /usr/sbin/rpc.ypxfrd

$ sudo /usr/sbin/ypbind -broadcast

$ ps -ef | grep '[y]p'
root     16875     1  0 12:45 ?        00:00:00 /usr/sbin/ypserv
root     16878     1  0 12:45 ?        00:00:00 /usr/sbin/rpc.yppasswdd -D /etc -e chsh -e chfn
root     16881     1  0 12:45 ?        00:00:00 /usr/sbin/rpc.ypxfrd
root     17268     1  0 12:55 ?        00:00:00 /usr/sbin/ypbind -broadcast

$ ypcat group
No such map group.byname. Reason: Can't bind to server which serves this domain
=====

Since the automated service restart interface breaks, this also breaks
during postinst, so I'm sending this comment to Bug#118023 also.

-- 
 \     “I must say that I find television very educational. The minute |
  `\       somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a book.” |
_o__)                                                    —Groucho Marx |
Ben Finney <ben@benfinney.id.au>

[signature.asc (application/pgp-signature, inline)]

Message #66 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Mark Brown <broonie@debian.org>

To: Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>, 213733@bugs.debian.org, 118023@bugs.debian.org, Debian BTS control <control@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: Re: Bug#213733: nis: upgrade breaks postinst and service restart

Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 10:15:29 +0100

On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 01:24:07PM +1000, Ben Finney wrote:

> I have exactly the same problem on upgrading to version 3.17-27, with
> this output:

Can you reproduce this problem?

Message #71 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>

To: Mark Brown <broonie@debian.org>

Cc: 213733@bugs.debian.org, 118023@bugs.debian.org, Debian BTS control <control@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: Re: Bug#213733: nis: upgrade breaks postinst and service restart

Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 23:21:45 +1000

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

On 15-Aug-2009, Mark Brown wrote:
> On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 01:24:07PM +1000, Ben Finney wrote:
> 
> > I have exactly the same problem on upgrading to version 3.17-27,
> > with this output:
> 
> Can you reproduce this problem?

I don't understand what exactly you want reproduced. When I upgraded
to version 3.17-27, the behaviour was as described. What do you want
reproduced?

-- 
 \        “I was once walking through the forest alone and a tree fell |
  `\       right in front of me, and I didn't hear it.” —Steven Wright |
_o__)                                                                  |
Ben Finney <ben@benfinney.id.au>

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Message #76 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Mark Brown <broonie@sirena.org.uk>

To: Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>, "213733@bugs.debian.org" <213733@bugs.debian.org>

Cc: Mark Brown <broonie@debian.org>, "213733@bugs.debian.org" <213733@bugs.debian.org>, "118023@bugs.debian.org" <118023@bugs.debian.org>, Debian BTS control <control@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: Re: Bug#213733: nis: upgrade breaks postinst and service restart

Date: Sat, 15 Aug 2009 15:26:19 +0100

On 15 Aug 2009, at 14:21, Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au> wrote:

> On 15-Aug-2009, Mark Brown wrote:
>> On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 01:24:07PM +1000, Ben Finney wrote:
>>
>>> I have exactly the same problem on upgrading to version 3.17-27,
>>> with this output:
>>
>> Can you reproduce this problem?
>
> I don't understand what exactly you want reproduced. When I upgraded
> to version 3.17-27, the behaviour was as described. What do you want
> reproduced?

Can you make the same behaviour occur again or did it just happen the  
once? 

Message #81 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>

To: Mark Brown <broonie@sirena.org.uk>

Cc: "213733@bugs.debian.org" <213733@bugs.debian.org>, "118023@bugs.debian.org" <118023@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: Re: Bug#213733: nis: upgrade breaks postinst and service restart

Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 10:04:26 +1000

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

On 15-Aug-2009, Mark Brown wrote:
> On 15 Aug 2009, at 14:21, Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au> wrote:
> >I don't understand what exactly you want reproduced. When I
> >upgraded to version 3.17-27, the behaviour was as described. What
> >do you want reproduced?
> 
> Can you make the same behaviour occur again or did it just happen
> the once?

That might take some time, as I don't have another NIS master that can
be temporarily broken for this testing.

Are there any particular conditions you want tested? My first thought
is to downgrade to a prior version, get the NIS master working, then
upgrade again.

-- 
 \         “When we pray to God we must be seeking nothing — nothing.” |
  `\                                          —Saint Francis of Assisi |
_o__)                                                                  |
Ben Finney <ben@benfinney.id.au>

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Message #86 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Mark Brown <broonie@debian.org>

To: Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>, 118023@bugs.debian.org

Cc: "213733@bugs.debian.org" <213733@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: Re: Bug#118023: Bug#213733: nis: upgrade breaks postinst and service restart

Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 10:04:20 +0100

On Sun, Aug 16, 2009 at 10:04:26AM +1000, Ben Finney wrote:

> Are there any particular conditions you want tested? My first thought
> is to downgrade to a prior version, get the NIS master working, then
> upgrade again.

That sounds reasonable - the goal is just to try to see the same thing
happening again so we can try to get some diagnostics.

Message #91 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Mark Brown <broonie@sirena.org.uk>

To: Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>

Cc: Mark Brown <broonie@debian.org>, "213733@bugs.debian.org" <213733@bugs.debian.org>, "118023@bugs.debian.org" <118023@bugs.debian.org>, Debian BTS control <control@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: Re: Bug#213733: nis: upgrade breaks postinst and service restart

Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:51:23 +0100

On 15 Aug 2009, at 14:21, Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au> wrote:

> On 15-Aug-2009, Mark Brown wrote:
>> On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 01:24:07PM +1000, Ben Finney wrote:
>>
>>> I have exactly the same problem on upgrading to version 3.17-27,
>>> with this output:
>>
>> Can you reproduce this problem?
>
> I don't understand what exactly you want reproduced. When I upgraded
> to version 3.17-27, the behaviour was as described. What do you want
> reproduced?

The behaviour you are describing.

Message #96 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>

To: 213733@bugs.debian.org, 118023@bugs.debian.org, Mark Brown <broonie@sirena.org.uk>

Cc: Debian BTS control <control@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: Re: Bug#213733: nis: upgrade breaks postinst and service restart

Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:34:34 +1100

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

package nis
found 213733 3.17-31
tags 213733 - moreinfo
found 118023 3.17-31
tags 118023 - moreinfo
thanks

On 16-Aug-2009, Ben Finney wrote:
> Are there any particular conditions you want tested? My first
> thought is to downgrade to a prior version, get the NIS master
> working, then upgrade again.

That opportunity never arrived. However, today's upgrade presents
essentially the same opportunity.


On 14-Aug-2009, Ben Finney wrote:
> I have exactly the same problem on upgrading to version 3.17-27, with
> this output:
[…]

I have upgraded to ‘nis’ 3.17-31. I repeated the same steps reported
in the message (Message-ID: <20090814032406.GA3875@benfinney.id.au>)
with the same results.

-- 
 \     Lucifer: “Just sign the Contract, sir, and the Piano is yours.” |
  `\     Ray: “Sheesh! This is long! Mind if I sign it now and read it |
_o__)                                later?” —http://www.achewood.com/ |
Ben Finney <ben@benfinney.id.au>

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Message #105 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Mark Brown <broonie@debian.org>

To: Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>, 213733@bugs.debian.org, 118023@bugs.debian.org, Debian BTS control <control@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: Re: Bug#118023: Bug#213733: nis: upgrade breaks postinst and service restart

Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:51:11 +0000

tag 213733 + moreinfo
tag 118023 + moreinfo
merge 118023 213733
kthxbye

On Fri, Jan 15, 2010 at 11:34:34AM +1100, Ben Finney wrote:
> On 14-Aug-2009, Ben Finney wrote:

> > I have exactly the same problem on upgrading to version 3.17-27, with
> > this output:
> […]

> I have upgraded to ‘nis’ 3.17-31. I repeated the same steps reported
> in the message (Message-ID: <20090814032406.GA3875@benfinney.id.au>)
> with the same results.

Can you reproduce this behaviour, though?  The problem here was that the
bug has been impossible to reproduce reliably, and by the time anyone
has reported reproduction the problem has vanished so it's not possible
to extract any information on what's going on.  We already know that the
problem is intermittently reproducible, the extra information that's
being looked for is either more information on what's going on or
(ideally) steps to reproduce well enough to enable me to drill down.

If you can reproduce the problem then a 'ps amxw' snapshot and a strace
of what ypbind is up to would both be good starts - note that ypbind is
multi-threaded which will probably mean stracing each individual thread
if it's already running.

Message #112 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>

To: Mark Brown <broonie@debian.org>

Cc: 213733@bugs.debian.org, 118023@bugs.debian.org

Subject: Re: Bug#118023: Bug#213733: nis: upgrade breaks postinst and service restart

Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:00:31 +1100

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

On 15-Jan-2010, Mark Brown wrote:
> On Fri, Jan 15, 2010 at 11:34:34AM +1100, Ben Finney wrote:
> > I have upgraded to ‘nis’ 3.17-31. I repeated the same steps reported
> > in the message (Message-ID: <20090814032406.GA3875@benfinney.id.au>)
> > with the same results.
> 
> Can you reproduce this behaviour, though?

This question confused me the first time you asked it, and I'm no
closer to knowing what you mean. How is what I wrote above not an
answer to that question?

As I reported, I can reproduce the behaviour, by following the same
steps as I documented. So I can only conclude that your question must
mean something else, but I don't know what.

> If you can reproduce the problem then a 'ps amxw' snapshot and a
> strace of what ypbind is up to would both be good starts - note that
> ypbind is multi-threaded which will probably mean stracing each
> individual thread if it's already running.

I don't know what exactly you need from me for the ‘strace’. Can you
tell me what commands to run?

The ‘ypbind’ is currently still failing, so attached is the ‘ps amxw’
snapshot.

-- 
 \      “The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're |
  `\                       still a rat.” —Jane Wagner, via Lily Tomlin |
_o__)                                                                  |
Ben Finney <ben@benfinney.id.au>

[ps_amxw.out (text/plain, attachment)]

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Message #117 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Mark Brown <broonie@sirena.org.uk>

To: Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>

Cc: Mark Brown <broonie@debian.org>, "213733@bugs.debian.org" <213733@bugs.debian.org>, "118023@bugs.debian.org" <118023@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: Re: Bug#118023: Bug#213733: nis: upgrade breaks postinst and service restart

Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 01:17:18 +0000

On 15 Jan 2010, at 01:00, Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au> wrote:

> On 15-Jan-2010, Mark Brown wrote:
>> On Fri, Jan 15, 2010 at 11:34:34AM +1100, Ben Finney wrote:
>>> I have upgraded to ‘nis’ 3.17-31. I repeated the same steps repo 
>>> rted
>>> in the message (Message-ID: <20090814032406.GA3875@benfinney.id.au>)
>>> with the same results.
>>
>> Can you reproduce this behaviour, though?
>
> This question confused me the first time you asked it, and I'm no
> closer to knowing what you mean. How is what I wrote above not an
> answer to that question?
>
> As I reported, I can reproduce the behaviour, by following the same
> steps as I documented. So I can only conclude that your question must
> mean something else, but I don't know what.

I mean "can you make this happen again?" - having reproduced something  
isn't the same as being able to so so repeatedly and it hasn't been  
clear to me that you were able to see this regularly. Clearly there's  
more information than just the steps you gave needed or all users  
would be experiencing this.

>
>> If you can reproduce the problem then a 'ps amxw' snapshot and a
>> strace of what ypbind is up to would both be good starts - note that
>> ypbind is multi-threaded which will probably mean stracing each
>> individual thread if it's already running.

> I don't know what exactly you need from me for the ‘strace’. Can y 
> ou
> tell me what commands to run?

Find all the pids for ypbind and run strace -p on them, or if you can  
reproduce from the command line try starting with strace -f (though  
this may mask symptoms and will be much more verbose).

>
> The ‘ypbind’ is currently still failing, so attached is the ‘ps  
> amxw’
> snapshot.

Your network configuration and yp.conf
may also be handy if you're able to supply them.

Message #122 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>

To: Mark Brown <broonie@sirena.org.uk>, "213733@bugs.debian.org" <213733@bugs.debian.org>, "118023@bugs.debian.org" <118023@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: Re: Bug#118023: Bug#213733: nis: upgrade breaks postinst and service restart

Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:38:27 +1100

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

On 15-Jan-2010, Mark Brown wrote:
> Find all the pids for ypbind and run strace -p on them, or if you
> can reproduce from the command line try starting with strace -f
> (though this may mask symptoms and will be much more verbose).

Okay. As reported earlier, I can cause the failure with
‘/usr/sbin/ypbind -f /etc/yp.conf’ so I've done an ‘strace -f’ on
that.

I hope that's what you are looking for; attached to this message in a
‘script’ session.

> Your network configuration and yp.conf
> may also be handy if you're able to supply them.

I'm not sure what you want to see of my network configuration.
Included in the script is the ‘ip addr’ output, and the non-comment,
non-blank lines from ‘/etc/yp.conf’.

-- 
 \         “Religious faith is the one species of human ignorance that |
  `\    will not admit of even the *possibility* of correction.”  —Sam |
_o__)                                 Harris, _The End of Faith_, 2004 |
Ben Finney <ben@benfinney.id.au>

[ypbind.20100115.script (text/plain, attachment)]

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Message #127 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Mark Brown <broonie@debian.org>

To: Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>, "213733@bugs.debian.org" <213733@bugs.debian.org>, "118023@bugs.debian.org" <118023@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: Re: Bug#118023: Bug#213733: nis: upgrade breaks postinst and service restart

Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:27:08 +0000

On Fri, Jan 15, 2010 at 12:38:27PM +1100, Ben Finney wrote:

> Okay. As reported earlier, I can cause the failure with
> ???/usr/sbin/ypbind -f /etc/yp.conf??? so I've done an ???strace -f??? on
> that.

Does your yp.conf specify a server?

Message #132 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>

To: Mark Brown <broonie@debian.org>

Cc: "213733@bugs.debian.org" <213733@bugs.debian.org>, "118023@bugs.debian.org" <118023@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: Re: Bug#118023: Bug#213733: nis: upgrade breaks postinst and service restart

Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 22:32:59 +1100

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

On 15-Jan-2010, Mark Brown wrote:
> Does your yp.conf specify a server?

My ‘yp.conf’ is empty, except for blank lines and comments. That's
what I've been showing with this:

=====
$ grep -v '^\(#.*\|\)$' /etc/yp.conf    # don't show comment or empty lines
$
=====

To be more explicit:

=====
$ cat /etc/yp.conf
#
# yp.conf       Configuration file for the ypbind process. You can define
#               NIS servers manually here if they can't be found by
#               broadcasting on the local net (which is the default).
#
#               See the manual page of ypbind for the syntax of this file.
#
# IMPORTANT:    For the "ypserver", use IP addresses, or make sure that
#               the host is in /etc/hosts. This file is only interpreted
#               once, and if DNS isn't reachable yet the ypserver cannot
#               be resolved and ypbind won't ever bind to the server.

# ypserver ypserver.network.com
$
=====

-- 
 \     “Dare to be naïve.” —Richard Buckminster Fuller, personal motto |
  `\                                                                   |
_o__)                                                                  |
Ben Finney <ben@benfinney.id.au>

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Message #137 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>

To: Mark Brown <broonie@sirena.org.uk>, "213733@bugs.debian.org" <213733@bugs.debian.org>, "118023@bugs.debian.org" <118023@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: Re: Bug#118023: Bug#213733: nis: upgrade breaks postinst and service restart

Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 00:26:49 +1100

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

On 15-Jan-2010, Ben Finney wrote:
> Okay. As reported earlier, I can cause the failure with
> ‘/usr/sbin/ypbind -f /etc/yp.conf’ so I've done an ‘strace -f’ on
> that.

I should note that (as when I reported this for a previous ‘nis’
package version) the failure occurs only on the NIS master. The master
fails to ‘ypbind’ to the domain.

NIS clients on the same network, on upgrading ‘nis’, can bind to the
master just as well as they did before.

-- 
 \          “The fact that I have no remedy for all the sorrows of the |
  `\     world is no reason for my accepting yours. It simply supports |
_o__)  the strong probability that yours is a fake.” —Henry L. Mencken |
Ben Finney <ben@benfinney.id.au>

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Message #142 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Mark Brown <broonie@debian.org>

To: Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>, "213733@bugs.debian.org" <213733@bugs.debian.org>, "118023@bugs.debian.org" <118023@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: Re: Bug#118023: Bug#213733: nis: upgrade breaks postinst and service restart

Date: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 13:31:50 +0000

On Fri, Jan 15, 2010 at 10:32:59PM +1100, Ben Finney wrote:
> On 15-Jan-2010, Mark Brown wrote:
> > Does your yp.conf specify a server?

> My ???yp.conf??? is empty, except for blank lines and comments. That's
> what I've been showing with this:

> =====
> $ grep -v '^\(#.*\|\)$' /etc/yp.conf    # don't show comment or empty lines
> $
> =====

Hrm, so in that case surely the error message from ypbind saying that 

| No NIS server and no -broadcast option specified.
| Add a NIS server to the /etc/yp.conf configuration file,
| or start ypbind with the -broadcast option.

applies?  The problem you're experiencing when it's run in postinst
*should* be a different one, or the

	if egrep -q '^(ypserver|domain)' /etc/yp.conf

isn't doing the right thing.

Message #147 received at 118023@bugs.debian.org (full text, mbox, reply):

From: Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>

To: Mark Brown <broonie@debian.org>

Cc: "213733@bugs.debian.org" <213733@bugs.debian.org>, "118023@bugs.debian.org" <118023@bugs.debian.org>

Subject: Re: Bug#118023: Bug#213733: nis: upgrade breaks postinst and service restart

Date: Sat, 16 Jan 2010 01:25:46 +1100

[Message part 1 (text/plain, inline)]

On 15-Jan-2010, Mark Brown wrote:
> Hrm, so in that case surely the error message from ypbind saying that 
> 
> | No NIS server and no -broadcast option specified.
> | Add a NIS server to the /etc/yp.conf configuration file,
> | or start ypbind with the -broadcast option.
> 
> applies?

That doesn't explain the rest of the reported behaviour:

* that this is only a problem in the postinst of an upgraded ‘nis’;
  the host binds happily to the NIS domain when it re-starts at other
  times. (I have not yet re-started it since upgrading this time, to
  keep it in a state where it's still able to reproduce the problem.)

* that supplying the ‘-broadcast’ option doesn't affect this failure.

I have attached another script session to this message, this time of
attempting the ‘/usr/sbin/ypbind -broadcast’ command first by itself,
then within ‘strace -f’. I hope that helps further diagnose what's
happening.

-- 
 \        “My house is made out of balsa wood, so when I want to scare |
  `\     the neighborhood kids I lift it over my head and tell them to |
_o__)     get out of my yard or I'll throw it at them.” —Steven Wright |
Ben Finney <ben@benfinney.id.au>

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