Re: [ALFS Trac] #1739: Reorder or remove deleting the lfs user

On Thu, Dec 26, 2024 at 10:07 PM Bruce Dubbs
<[email protected]> wrote:
>
> On 12/22/24 11:10, ALFS Trac ([email protected] via alfs-discuss Mailing
> List) wrote:
> > #1739: Reorder or remove deleting the lfs user
> > --------------------+------------------------------
> >   Reporter:  xry111  |       Owner:  Pierre Labastie
> >       Type:  defect  |      Status:  accepted
> >   Priority:  normal  |   Milestone:
> > Component:  jhalfs  |     Version:  GIT
> >   Severity:  normal  |  Resolution:
> >   Keywords:          |
> > --------------------+------------------------------
> > Comment (by Douglas R. Reno):
> >
> >   Replying to [comment:3 Pierre Labastie]:
> >   > I've come to this:
> >   > - If a user with name ''lfs'' exists on the system:
> >   >   -  rename that user to ''lfsxxx'', and move its home to
> >   '''/home/lfs.XXX'''. This means that if a user with name ''lfsxxx'' is
> >   already on the system, we must delete it, possibly after asking  (but I do
> >   not like that, because it means jhalfs cannot be run unattended).
> >   >   -  create a new ''lfs'' user with book instructions
> >   >   -  leave everything as is, but warn at the end of the jhalfs run that
> >   there is a new user and the old one has changed name
> >   >
> >   > - if there is no user with name ''lfs'':
> >   >   -  create it with book instructions
> >   >   -  leave it as is, but warn at the end of the jhalfs run that there is
> >   a new user
> >   >
> >   > Please comment...
> >
> >   This approach sounds really good to me. I think we probably shouldn't ask
> >   since most users shouldn't have anything in /home/lfs other than the files
> >   we create, and we want jhalfs to be completely automated. A lot of us
> >   editors that use jhalfs for testing LFS have a 'lfs' user kept around, so
> >   this would probably be the best way for us editors as well. I think a
> >   notification at the end would be helpful as well
> >
> >   This also fixes the issue that I run into when building a new system where
> >   I don't realize that the lfs user hasn't been created yet, and jhalfs
> >   fails because of it
>
> I'm coming into this a little late, but I think the lfs user should be deleted at the
> jhalfs install phase before the LFS build if it exists.  At that point the user is
> always present. If desired, a question can be asked if saving the lfs user is
> desired, but I just checked and the only things in $HOME/lfs is .bash_profile and
> .bashrc.
>
> The other option of automatically deleting the lfs user when entering chroot in
> Chapter 7 is also acceptable.  From a manual build standpoint the only reason to
> leave it is if the user made a mistake and has to go back to Chapter 5 or 6.
>
> We run into similar issues if the user un-mounts the virtual file systems and then
> forgets to re-mount them.
>
>    -- Bruce
>

What about creating random lfs user to avoid possible interference
with existing host:

lfsuser=lfsuser$RANDOM
useradd $lfsuser
echo $lfsuser > lfsuser

. . .

userdel $(cat lfsuser)

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