[Mimedefang] Slightly OT: System shutdown by non-privledged user

[David F. Skoll]

On Tue, 20 Apr 2004 WBrown at e1b.org wrote:

> I need to develop a procedure to allow a non-priveledged user (computer
> room operator) to shut down my mail filter systems in case of power
> failure and the large room UPS running out of power.

If the operator has physical access to the machine, how about
doing Ctrl-Alt-Del and shutting it off before it reboots?  (This assumes
you're using Linux on x86.)

Otherwise, you can create a user called "shutdown" whose passwd entry
would look like this:

	shutdown:x:0:0:Shutdown Operator:/:/sbin/shutdown

and create a password that you give out to the operator.  In fact,
many Linux distros already have a "shutdown" user, albeit with a locked
password.

Regards,

David.