updatedb.cron doesn't work

[Ben Luey <lueyb@carleton.edu>]

I un-suided some programs and that might have caused this problem:
updated.cron (came with rh5.2) makes an empty locatedb file with perm 400.
Attached is the script -- the line:

su nobody -c "/usr/bin ...."

produces the empty file.. When I run the script as root I get: sync:
ignoring all arguments

Why is sync ignoring all arguments?




Ben Luey
lueyb@carleton.edu
ICQ: 19144397

I say if your knees aren't green by the end of the day, you ought to seriously 
re-examine your life. 
  -- Calvin (Calvin & Hobbes) looking at his grass-stained knees after fun day 
     outside.
#!/bin/bash

umask=022

die ()
{
  echo "$*" 1>&2
  exit 1
}

cd /

TMPFILE=`/bin/mktemp /tmp/locatedb.XXXXXX` || {
  echo "could not create tempfile" >&2 ; exit 1
}
chown nobody.nobody $TMPFILE
su nobody -c "/usr/bin/updatedb --output=$TMPFILE --localpaths='/' --prunepaths='/tmp /var/tmp /usr/tmp /afs /net' --netpaths='' 2>/dev/null"

SFILE=$TMPFILE

mv $SFILE /var/lib/locatedb || \
  die "$0: could not create /var/lib/locatedb"
chown root.root /var/lib/locatedb || \
  die "$0: could not change ownership of /var/lib/locatedb"
rm -rf $TMPFILE

exit 0