Bug 60338

Summary:	crontab cannot update cron file if /tmp is a link.
Product:	[Retired] Red Hat Linux	Reporter:	redhat-bugzilla
Component:	vim	Assignee:	Jens Petersen <petersen>
Status:	CLOSED DUPLICATE	QA Contact:	Brock Organ <borgan>
Severity:	medium	Docs Contact:
Priority:	medium
Version:	7.2	CC:	bero, mark
Target Milestone:	---
Target Release:	---
Hardware:	i386
OS:	Linux
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version:		Doc Type:	Bug Fix
Doc Text:		Story Points:	---
Clone Of:		Environment:
Last Closed:	2002-06-17 03:01:42 UTC	Type:	---
Regression:	---	Mount Type:	---
Documentation:	---	CRM:
Verified Versions:		Category:	---
oVirt Team:	---	RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team:	---	Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description redhat-bugzilla 2002-02-26 00:47:58 UTC

Description of Problem:
vixie-cron's crontab program seems unable to handle storing temporary files in
/tmp when /tmp is a symlinked directory.

Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable):
vixie-cron-3.0.1-63

How Reproducible:
Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Move /tmp to, for example, /var/you_better_not_leave_junk_here/ and create
a suitable softlink.
2. crontab -e and create a valid entry.
3. Observe output:

"crontab.26839" 1L, 48C written
crontab: no changes made to crontab

4. Notice absence of /var/spool/cron/root
5. Try again.
6. Try again.
7. Try again
8. Formulate vixie-cron conspiracy theories.

Actual Results:

Wind catches lily
scatt'ring petals to the wind --
crontab: no changes

Expected Results:
A file in /var/spool/cron/

Additional Information:

Confirmed problem does not manifest on stock (ie. real /tmp/ directory) 7.2 machine.

Comment 1 Bill Nottingham 2002-03-25 14:14:51 UTC

I think this is actually an issue with vi.

Comment 2 Bill Huang 2002-06-03 09:23:44 UTC

It is a bug of vi.

Comment 3 Bill Huang 2002-06-17 03:03:11 UTC


*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 37771 ***

Comment 4 Mark Basil 2003-04-29 19:47:56 UTC

I do not understand how this is a duplicate of  37771.  That is an "exploit", while 
this is a limitation.  Even with the latest vim updates, 6.1-18.7x.2, I am still 
unable to run a successful 'crontab -e' while /tmp is a link to /usr/temp.  I am 
running RH7.3. 
 
Basically what i need to know is this going to be fixed, or should I look into other 
alternatives.