nslcd daemon dies

[msp3k]

Sometimes the nslcd daemon starts normally, but then dies later, with no error output to syslog stating why the process died. Checking ps -ef shows no nslcd process running.

Attached is an example output from syslog showing the restart (Sep 25 18:23:03), the point at which pam notices that nslcd has died (Sep 25 18:27:02), and the point at which nslcd is restarted manually by the admin (Sep 26 07:36:51).

Sep 25 18:23:03 diatom nslcd[2778]: version 0.8.13 starting
Sep 25 18:23:08 diatom nslcd[2778]: accepting connections
Sep 25 18:27:02 diatom lightdm: pam_ldap(lightdm:auth): error opening connection to nslcd: Connection refused
Sep 25 18:27:14 diatom lightdm: pam_ldap(lightdm:auth): error opening connection to nslcd: Connection refused
Sep 25 18:27:34 diatom lightdm: pam_ldap(lightdm:auth): error opening connection to nslcd: Connection refused
Sep 25 18:28:00 diatom lightdm: pam_ldap(lightdm:auth): error opening connection to nslcd: Connection refused
Sep 25 18:29:33 diatom lightdm: pam_ldap(lightdm:auth): error opening connection to nslcd: Connection refused
Sep 25 18:29:59 diatom lightdm: pam_ldap(lightdm:auth): error opening connection to nslcd: Connection refused
Sep 25 18:30:50 diatom sshd[3486]: pam_ldap(sshd:auth): error opening connection to nslcd: Connection refused
Sep 25 18:30:50 diatom sshd[3486]: pam_ldap(sshd:auth): error opening connection to nslcd: Connection refused
Sep 25 18:31:00 diatom sshd[3486]: pam_ldap(sshd:auth): error opening connection to nslcd: Connection refused
Sep 25 18:31:00 diatom sshd[3486]: pam_ldap(sshd:auth): error opening connection to nslcd: Connection refused
Sep 25 18:36:43 diatom sshd[3698]: pam_ldap(sshd:auth): error opening connection to nslcd: Connection refused
Sep 25 18:36:43 diatom sshd[3698]: pam_ldap(sshd:auth): error opening connection to nslcd: Connection refused
Sep 25 18:41:42 diatom smbd[3842]: pam_ldap(samba:session): error opening connection to nslcd: Connection refused
Sep 25 23:17:03 diatom sshd[12931]: pam_ldap(sshd:auth): error opening connection to nslcd: Connection refused
Sep 25 23:17:03 diatom sshd[12931]: pam_ldap(sshd:auth): error opening connection to nslcd: Connection refused
Sep 25 23:21:06 diatom sshd[13105]: pam_ldap(sshd:auth): error opening connection to nslcd: Connection refused
Sep 25 23:21:06 diatom sshd[13105]: pam_ldap(sshd:auth): error opening connection to nslcd: Connection refused
Sep 26 07:36:51 diatom nslcd[30075]: version 0.8.13 starting
Sep 26 07:36:56 diatom nslcd[30075]: accepting connections

This is one example. The same problem has been noted on multiple hosts. All hosts are running fully up-to-date Ubuntu 14.04.1 on amd64 architecture.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: nslcd 0.8.13-3
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-36.63-generic 3.13.11.6
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-36-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.4
Architecture: amd64
Date: Fri Sep 26 08:21:06 2014
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-06-20 (97 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-Server 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140416.2)
SourcePackage: nss-pam-ldapd
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Arthur de Jong (adejong)]

Thanks for reporting this. It seems the crash happend quite quicly after start-up (issues during start-up have been seen in relation to SSL).

Does the kernel log anything (segmentation fault)?

What is your nslcd.conf like?

If you run nslcd in debug mode (start manually with -d) does it output any useful information around the time of the crash?

If this is at all reproducable running it under gdb, valgrind or even strace could provide valuable information.

[msp3k (peek-nimbios)]

On 09/26/2014 11:10 AM, Arthur de Jong wrote:
> Does the kernel log anything (segmentation fault)?

No mention of nslcd in /var/log/kern.log

> What is your nslcd.conf like?

# /etc/nslcd.conf
# nslcd configuration file. See nslcd.conf(5)
# for details.

# The user and group nslcd should run as.
uid nslcd
gid nslcd

# The location at which the LDAP server(s) should be reachable.
uri ldap://ldap.nimbios.org:389/

# The search base that will be used for all queries.
base dc=nimbios,dc=org

# The LDAP protocol version to use.
#ldap_version 3

# The DN to bind with for normal lookups.
#binddn cn=annonymous,dc=example,dc=net
#bindpw secret

# The DN used for password modifications by root.
#rootpwmoddn cn=admin,dc=example,dc=com

# SSL options
#ssl off
#tls_reqcert never

# The search scope.
#scope sub

> If you run nslcd in debug mode (start manually with -d) does it output
> any useful information around the time of the crash?
>
> If this is at all reproducable running it under gdb, valgrind or even
> strace could provide valuable information.

I'll see if I can gather some more information for you.

Thank you for Ubuntu!

Michael

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.