Hello,

For AIX 7300-03-00 i get below error.

root@hostname:/root
> su - automation
automation@hostname[/home/automation]sudo su -
[YOU HAVE NEW MAIL]
3004-687 User "automati" does not exist.

When I'm trying to "sudo su -" from user with more than 8 characters then its appear. Basically I'm able to switch to root but anyway this error looks confusing.

Because its saying that user "automati" instead of "automation" .

In the truss dump we found something like this :

[...]
12059046: 32768295: 5.3506: kread(0, 0xF09C4D40, 4096)11076046: 24969701: 5.4668: kwrite(1, 0x0FFFFFFFFFFFE8A0, 58) = 58 = 58
12059046: a u t o m a t i p t s / 5 J u l 0 9 1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
12059046: 1 : 3 9 ( 2 1 3 . 2 3 . 1 2 2 . 1 1 3 )\n


11076046: a u t o m a t i p t s / 5 J u l 0 9 1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
11076046: 1 : 3 9 ( 2 1 3 . 2 3 . 1 2 2 . 1 1 3 )\n
12059046: 32768295: 5.4670: kioctl(1, 22528, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)11076046: 24969701: 5.4670: close(1) = 025 ENOTTY


12059046: 32768295: 5.4672: kread(0, 0xF09C4D40, 4096) = 0
= 0
12059046: 32768295: 5.4674: close(0) = 011076046: 24969701: 5.4675: checkpnt_block(0x0000000000000000, 17) = 0


11076046: 24969701: 5.4677: checkpnt_block(0x0000000 = 900000, 18)1323
12059046: a u t o m a t i\n
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
= 9
13238722: a u t o m a t i\n
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
[...]

So we think that sudo package has some problem. 

Sudo version installed is : 1.9.16p2-1 so the latest one.

I couldn't find similar problem anywhere. Maybe somebody has something to add here that would be great :)

Regards

What is max_logname set to (lsattr -El sys0 -a max_logname)?

Hello,

For AIX 7300-03-00 i get below error.

root@hostname:/root
> su - automation
automation@hostname[/home/automation]sudo su -
[YOU HAVE NEW MAIL]
3004-687 User "automati" does not exist.

When I'm trying to "sudo su -" from user with more than 8 characters then its appear. Basically I'm able to switch to root but anyway this error looks confusing.

Because its saying that user "automati" instead of "automation" .

In the truss dump we found something like this :

[...]
12059046: 32768295: 5.3506: kread(0, 0xF09C4D40, 4096)11076046: 24969701: 5.4668: kwrite(1, 0x0FFFFFFFFFFFE8A0, 58) = 58 = 58
12059046: a u t o m a t i p t s / 5 J u l 0 9 1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
12059046: 1 : 3 9 ( 2 1 3 . 2 3 . 1 2 2 . 1 1 3 )\n


11076046: a u t o m a t i p t s / 5 J u l 0 9 1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
11076046: 1 : 3 9 ( 2 1 3 . 2 3 . 1 2 2 . 1 1 3 )\n
12059046: 32768295: 5.4670: kioctl(1, 22528, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)11076046: 24969701: 5.4670: close(1) = 025 ENOTTY


12059046: 32768295: 5.4672: kread(0, 0xF09C4D40, 4096) = 0
= 0
12059046: 32768295: 5.4674: close(0) = 011076046: 24969701: 5.4675: checkpnt_block(0x0000000000000000, 17) = 0


11076046: 24969701: 5.4677: checkpnt_block(0x0000000 = 900000, 18)1323
12059046: a u t o m a t i\n
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
= 9
13238722: a u t o m a t i\n
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
[...]

So we think that sudo package has some problem. 

Sudo version installed is : 1.9.16p2-1 so the latest one.

I couldn't find similar problem anywhere. Maybe somebody has something to add here that would be great :)

Regards

Hello,

For AIX 7300-03-00 i get below error.

root@hostname:/root
> su - automation
automation@hostname[/home/automation]sudo su -
[YOU HAVE NEW MAIL]
3004-687 User "automati" does not exist.

When I'm trying to "sudo su -" from user with more than 8 characters then its appear. Basically I'm able to switch to root but anyway this error looks confusing.

Because its saying that user "automati" instead of "automation" .

In the truss dump we found something like this :

[...]
12059046: 32768295: 5.3506: kread(0, 0xF09C4D40, 4096)11076046: 24969701: 5.4668: kwrite(1, 0x0FFFFFFFFFFFE8A0, 58) = 58 = 58
12059046: a u t o m a t i p t s / 5 J u l 0 9 1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
12059046: 1 : 3 9 ( 2 1 3 . 2 3 . 1 2 2 . 1 1 3 )\n


11076046: a u t o m a t i p t s / 5 J u l 0 9 1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
11076046: 1 : 3 9 ( 2 1 3 . 2 3 . 1 2 2 . 1 1 3 )\n
12059046: 32768295: 5.4670: kioctl(1, 22528, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)11076046: 24969701: 5.4670: close(1) = 025 ENOTTY


12059046: 32768295: 5.4672: kread(0, 0xF09C4D40, 4096) = 0
= 0
12059046: 32768295: 5.4674: close(0) = 011076046: 24969701: 5.4675: checkpnt_block(0x0000000000000000, 17) = 0


11076046: 24969701: 5.4677: checkpnt_block(0x0000000 = 900000, 18)1323
12059046: a u t o m a t i\n
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
= 9
13238722: a u t o m a t i\n
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
[...]

So we think that sudo package has some problem. 

Sudo version installed is : 1.9.16p2-1 so the latest one.

I couldn't find similar problem anywhere. Maybe somebody has something to add here that would be great :)

Regards

------------------------------
Tomasz Boruszek
------------------------------

What do these commands show?

lsattr -El sys0 -a max_logname

cat -v /etc/passwd | grep auto
su - automation -c whoami
su - automation -c "echo $LOGNAME"

------------------------------
Chris Gibson

Original Message:
Sent: Wed July 09, 2025 01:03 PM
From: Tomasz Boruszek
Subject: 3004-687 User "???" does not exist.

Hello,

For AIX 7300-03-00 i get below error.

root@hostname:/root
> su - automation
automation@hostname[/home/automation]sudo su -
[YOU HAVE NEW MAIL]
3004-687 User "automati" does not exist.

When I'm trying to "sudo su -" from user with more than 8 characters then its appear. Basically I'm able to switch to root but anyway this error looks confusing.

Because its saying that user "automati" instead of "automation" .

In the truss dump we found something like this :

[...]
12059046: 32768295: 5.3506: kread(0, 0xF09C4D40, 4096)11076046: 24969701: 5.4668: kwrite(1, 0x0FFFFFFFFFFFE8A0, 58) = 58 = 58
12059046: a u t o m a t i p t s / 5 J u l 0 9 1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
12059046: 1 : 3 9 ( 2 1 3 . 2 3 . 1 2 2 . 1 1 3 )\n


11076046: a u t o m a t i p t s / 5 J u l 0 9 1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
11076046: 1 : 3 9 ( 2 1 3 . 2 3 . 1 2 2 . 1 1 3 )\n
12059046: 32768295: 5.4670: kioctl(1, 22528, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)11076046: 24969701: 5.4670: close(1) = 025 ENOTTY


12059046: 32768295: 5.4672: kread(0, 0xF09C4D40, 4096) = 0
= 0
12059046: 32768295: 5.4674: close(0) = 011076046: 24969701: 5.4675: checkpnt_block(0x0000000000000000, 17) = 0


11076046: 24969701: 5.4677: checkpnt_block(0x0000000 = 900000, 18)1323
12059046: a u t o m a t i\n
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
= 9
13238722: a u t o m a t i\n
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
[...]

So we think that sudo package has some problem. 

Sudo version installed is : 1.9.16p2-1 so the latest one.

I couldn't find similar problem anywhere. Maybe somebody has something to add here that would be great :)

Regards

------------------------------
Tomasz Boruszek
------------------------------

> lsattr -El sys0 -a max_logname
max_logname 255 Maximum login name length at boot time True

> su - automation -c whoami
automation

cat -v /etc/passwd | grep auto
automation:!:739:1:Ansible User:/home/automation:/usr/bin/ksh

> su - automation -c "echo $LOGNAME"
root

------------------------------
Tomasz Boruszek

Original Message:
Sent: Mon July 14, 2025 07:07 PM
From: Chris Gibson
Subject: 3004-687 User "???" does not exist.

What do these commands show?

lsattr -El sys0 -a max_logname

cat -v /etc/passwd | grep auto
su - automation -c whoami
su - automation -c "echo $LOGNAME"

------------------------------
Chris Gibson

Original Message:
Sent: Wed July 09, 2025 01:03 PM
From: Tomasz Boruszek
Subject: 3004-687 User "???" does not exist.

Hello,

For AIX 7300-03-00 i get below error.

root@hostname:/root
> su - automation
automation@hostname[/home/automation]sudo su -
[YOU HAVE NEW MAIL]
3004-687 User "automati" does not exist.

When I'm trying to "sudo su -" from user with more than 8 characters then its appear. Basically I'm able to switch to root but anyway this error looks confusing.

Because its saying that user "automati" instead of "automation" .

In the truss dump we found something like this :

[...]
12059046: 32768295: 5.3506: kread(0, 0xF09C4D40, 4096)11076046: 24969701: 5.4668: kwrite(1, 0x0FFFFFFFFFFFE8A0, 58) = 58 = 58
12059046: a u t o m a t i p t s / 5 J u l 0 9 1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
12059046: 1 : 3 9 ( 2 1 3 . 2 3 . 1 2 2 . 1 1 3 )\n


11076046: a u t o m a t i p t s / 5 J u l 0 9 1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
11076046: 1 : 3 9 ( 2 1 3 . 2 3 . 1 2 2 . 1 1 3 )\n
12059046: 32768295: 5.4670: kioctl(1, 22528, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)11076046: 24969701: 5.4670: close(1) = 025 ENOTTY


12059046: 32768295: 5.4672: kread(0, 0xF09C4D40, 4096) = 0
= 0
12059046: 32768295: 5.4674: close(0) = 011076046: 24969701: 5.4675: checkpnt_block(0x0000000000000000, 17) = 0


11076046: 24969701: 5.4677: checkpnt_block(0x0000000 = 900000, 18)1323
12059046: a u t o m a t i\n
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
= 9
13238722: a u t o m a t i\n
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
[...]

So we think that sudo package has some problem. 

Sudo version installed is : 1.9.16p2-1 so the latest one.

I couldn't find similar problem anywhere. Maybe somebody has something to add here that would be great :)

Regards

------------------------------
Tomasz Boruszek
------------------------------

> > su - automation -c "echo $LOGNAME"
> root

I believe you should have used signle quotes, not double ones. With double quotes, it is the root shell that expands $LOGNAME - and we want to see this env var in automation user shell .

su - automation -c 'echo $LOGNAME'

> lsattr -El sys0 -a max_logname
max_logname 255 Maximum login name length at boot time True

> su - automation -c whoami
automation

cat -v /etc/passwd | grep auto
automation:!:739:1:Ansible User:/home/automation:/usr/bin/ksh

> su - automation -c "echo $LOGNAME"
root

------------------------------
Tomasz Boruszek

Original Message:
Sent: Mon July 14, 2025 07:07 PM
From: Chris Gibson
Subject: 3004-687 User "???" does not exist.

What do these commands show?

lsattr -El sys0 -a max_logname

cat -v /etc/passwd | grep auto
su - automation -c whoami
su - automation -c "echo $LOGNAME"

------------------------------
Chris Gibson

Original Message:
Sent: Wed July 09, 2025 01:03 PM
From: Tomasz Boruszek
Subject: 3004-687 User "???" does not exist.

Hello,

For AIX 7300-03-00 i get below error.

root@hostname:/root
> su - automation
automation@hostname[/home/automation]sudo su -
[YOU HAVE NEW MAIL]
3004-687 User "automati" does not exist.

When I'm trying to "sudo su -" from user with more than 8 characters then its appear. Basically I'm able to switch to root but anyway this error looks confusing.

Because its saying that user "automati" instead of "automation" .

In the truss dump we found something like this :

[...]
12059046: 32768295: 5.3506: kread(0, 0xF09C4D40, 4096)11076046: 24969701: 5.4668: kwrite(1, 0x0FFFFFFFFFFFE8A0, 58) = 58 = 58
12059046: a u t o m a t i p t s / 5 J u l 0 9 1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
12059046: 1 : 3 9 ( 2 1 3 . 2 3 . 1 2 2 . 1 1 3 )\n


11076046: a u t o m a t i p t s / 5 J u l 0 9 1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
11076046: 1 : 3 9 ( 2 1 3 . 2 3 . 1 2 2 . 1 1 3 )\n
12059046: 32768295: 5.4670: kioctl(1, 22528, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)11076046: 24969701: 5.4670: close(1) = 025 ENOTTY


12059046: 32768295: 5.4672: kread(0, 0xF09C4D40, 4096) = 0
= 0
12059046: 32768295: 5.4674: close(0) = 011076046: 24969701: 5.4675: checkpnt_block(0x0000000000000000, 17) = 0


11076046: 24969701: 5.4677: checkpnt_block(0x0000000 = 900000, 18)1323
12059046: a u t o m a t i\n
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
= 9
13238722: a u t o m a t i\n
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
[...]

So we think that sudo package has some problem. 

Sudo version installed is : 1.9.16p2-1 so the latest one.

I couldn't find similar problem anywhere. Maybe somebody has something to add here that would be great :)

Regards

------------------------------
Tomasz Boruszek
------------------------------

Hello,

For AIX 7300-03-00 i get below error.

root@hostname:/root
> su - automation
automation@hostname[/home/automation]sudo su -
[YOU HAVE NEW MAIL]
3004-687 User "automati" does not exist.

When I'm trying to "sudo su -" from user with more than 8 characters then its appear. Basically I'm able to switch to root but anyway this error looks confusing.

Because its saying that user "automati" instead of "automation" .

In the truss dump we found something like this :

[...]
12059046: 32768295: 5.3506: kread(0, 0xF09C4D40, 4096)11076046: 24969701: 5.4668: kwrite(1, 0x0FFFFFFFFFFFE8A0, 58) = 58 = 58
12059046: a u t o m a t i p t s / 5 J u l 0 9 1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
12059046: 1 : 3 9 ( 2 1 3 . 2 3 . 1 2 2 . 1 1 3 )\n


11076046: a u t o m a t i p t s / 5 J u l 0 9 1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
11076046: 1 : 3 9 ( 2 1 3 . 2 3 . 1 2 2 . 1 1 3 )\n
12059046: 32768295: 5.4670: kioctl(1, 22528, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)11076046: 24969701: 5.4670: close(1) = 025 ENOTTY


12059046: 32768295: 5.4672: kread(0, 0xF09C4D40, 4096) = 0
= 0
12059046: 32768295: 5.4674: close(0) = 011076046: 24969701: 5.4675: checkpnt_block(0x0000000000000000, 17) = 0


11076046: 24969701: 5.4677: checkpnt_block(0x0000000 = 900000, 18)1323
12059046: a u t o m a t i\n
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
= 9
13238722: a u t o m a t i\n
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
[...]

So we think that sudo package has some problem. 

Sudo version installed is : 1.9.16p2-1 so the latest one.

I couldn't find similar problem anywhere. Maybe somebody has something to add here that would be great :)

Regards

It's either a problem with sudo or you haven't rebooted after setting max_logname to 255.

Hello,

For AIX 7300-03-00 i get below error.

root@hostname:/root
> su - automation
automation@hostname[/home/automation]sudo su -
[YOU HAVE NEW MAIL]
3004-687 User "automati" does not exist.

When I'm trying to "sudo su -" from user with more than 8 characters then its appear. Basically I'm able to switch to root but anyway this error looks confusing.

Because its saying that user "automati" instead of "automation" .

In the truss dump we found something like this :

[...]
12059046: 32768295: 5.3506: kread(0, 0xF09C4D40, 4096)11076046: 24969701: 5.4668: kwrite(1, 0x0FFFFFFFFFFFE8A0, 58) = 58 = 58
12059046: a u t o m a t i p t s / 5 J u l 0 9 1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
12059046: 1 : 3 9 ( 2 1 3 . 2 3 . 1 2 2 . 1 1 3 )\n


11076046: a u t o m a t i p t s / 5 J u l 0 9 1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
11076046: 1 : 3 9 ( 2 1 3 . 2 3 . 1 2 2 . 1 1 3 )\n
12059046: 32768295: 5.4670: kioctl(1, 22528, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)11076046: 24969701: 5.4670: close(1) = 025 ENOTTY


12059046: 32768295: 5.4672: kread(0, 0xF09C4D40, 4096) = 0
= 0
12059046: 32768295: 5.4674: close(0) = 011076046: 24969701: 5.4675: checkpnt_block(0x0000000000000000, 17) = 0


11076046: 24969701: 5.4677: checkpnt_block(0x0000000 = 900000, 18)1323
12059046: a u t o m a t i\n
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
= 9
13238722: a u t o m a t i\n
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
[...]

So we think that sudo package has some problem. 

Sudo version installed is : 1.9.16p2-1 so the latest one.

I couldn't find similar problem anywhere. Maybe somebody has something to add here that would be great :)

Regards

Hello,

For AIX 7300-03-00 i get below error.

root@hostname:/root
> su - automation
automation@hostname[/home/automation]sudo su -
[YOU HAVE NEW MAIL]
3004-687 User "automati" does not exist.

When I'm trying to "sudo su -" from user with more than 8 characters then its appear. Basically I'm able to switch to root but anyway this error looks confusing.

Because its saying that user "automati" instead of "automation" .

In the truss dump we found something like this :

[...]
12059046: 32768295: 5.3506: kread(0, 0xF09C4D40, 4096)11076046: 24969701: 5.4668: kwrite(1, 0x0FFFFFFFFFFFE8A0, 58) = 58 = 58
12059046: a u t o m a t i p t s / 5 J u l 0 9 1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
12059046: 1 : 3 9 ( 2 1 3 . 2 3 . 1 2 2 . 1 1 3 )\n


11076046: a u t o m a t i p t s / 5 J u l 0 9 1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
11076046: 1 : 3 9 ( 2 1 3 . 2 3 . 1 2 2 . 1 1 3 )\n
12059046: 32768295: 5.4670: kioctl(1, 22528, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)11076046: 24969701: 5.4670: close(1) = 025 ENOTTY


12059046: 32768295: 5.4672: kread(0, 0xF09C4D40, 4096) = 0
= 0
12059046: 32768295: 5.4674: close(0) = 011076046: 24969701: 5.4675: checkpnt_block(0x0000000000000000, 17) = 0


11076046: 24969701: 5.4677: checkpnt_block(0x0000000 = 900000, 18)1323
12059046: a u t o m a t i\n
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
= 9
13238722: a u t o m a t i\n
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
[...]

So we think that sudo package has some problem. 

Sudo version installed is : 1.9.16p2-1 so the latest one.

I couldn't find similar problem anywhere. Maybe somebody has something to add here that would be great :)

Regards

> Basically I'm able to switch to root but anyway this error looks confusing.

Ok, so sudo works but it's just the messages you're worried about?

> > su - automation
> automation@hostname[/home/automation]sudo su -
> [YOU HAVE NEW MAIL]
> 3004-687 User "automati" does not exist.

I think all these messages are produced by root shell and sudo does not have anything to do with them. The message about nonexting user is displayed after the message about mail and the latter is almost certainly displayed as a result of inerpreting the shell configuration files (profile etc).
What does get displayed when you run "sudo su -" as a user that has its name no longer than 8 chars?

Hello,

For AIX 7300-03-00 i get below error.

root@hostname:/root
> su - automation
automation@hostname[/home/automation]sudo su -
[YOU HAVE NEW MAIL]
3004-687 User "automati" does not exist.

When I'm trying to "sudo su -" from user with more than 8 characters then its appear. Basically I'm able to switch to root but anyway this error looks confusing.

Because its saying that user "automati" instead of "automation" .

In the truss dump we found something like this :

[...]
12059046: 32768295: 5.3506: kread(0, 0xF09C4D40, 4096)11076046: 24969701: 5.4668: kwrite(1, 0x0FFFFFFFFFFFE8A0, 58) = 58 = 58
12059046: a u t o m a t i p t s / 5 J u l 0 9 1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
12059046: 1 : 3 9 ( 2 1 3 . 2 3 . 1 2 2 . 1 1 3 )\n


11076046: a u t o m a t i p t s / 5 J u l 0 9 1
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
11076046: 1 : 3 9 ( 2 1 3 . 2 3 . 1 2 2 . 1 1 3 )\n
12059046: 32768295: 5.4670: kioctl(1, 22528, 0x00000000, 0x00000000)11076046: 24969701: 5.4670: close(1) = 025 ENOTTY


12059046: 32768295: 5.4672: kread(0, 0xF09C4D40, 4096) = 0
= 0
12059046: 32768295: 5.4674: close(0) = 011076046: 24969701: 5.4675: checkpnt_block(0x0000000000000000, 17) = 0


11076046: 24969701: 5.4677: checkpnt_block(0x0000000 = 900000, 18)1323
12059046: a u t o m a t i\n
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
= 9
13238722: a u t o m a t i\n
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ <-- !!!
[...]

So we think that sudo package has some problem. 

Sudo version installed is : 1.9.16p2-1 so the latest one.

I couldn't find similar problem anywhere. Maybe somebody has something to add here that would be great :)

Regards