Trouble using encrypted passwords

Hi, all.

I'm using a vanilla GNATS 4.0 installation on a Solaris 5.9 box.  For
some reason, MD5 encryption isn't working for me, so I'm trying standard
UNIX crypt() encryption.  I'm rather perplexed at the statement in
Appendix C of the gnats documentation, which states that "crypt()
passwords can be generated by using standard UNIX passwords tools". 
What tools are these (and do you have any examples of how I can use
them)?

I've tried using the UNIX crypt command and both perl and python's crypt
function (which, of course, generate the same answer for the same
password/salt combo, though the crypt command output is just plain
weird).

i.e.:
python -c 'import crypt; print crypt.crypt("password","salt")'
perl -e 'print crypt("password", "salt"), "\n";'

The output from both of these functions looks fine (to my untrained
eye), but when I put this data into the gnatsd.user_access file, GNATS
won't let me in.

I have verified that plaintext passwords work.

Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

DSG

-- 
David S Gathright <[email protected]>
LASP - University of Colorado