using wall command

ssameera · 06-09-2022, 08:13 AM

Hello,

I tried using wall command. But the message was not broadcast on to other users' terminals.

Am i missing some other step here?

Thanks in advance.

Sameera

TB0ne · 06-09-2022, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssameera

Hello,
I tried using wall command. But the message was not broadcast on to other users' terminals. Am i missing some other step here?

You don't say what version/distro of Linux you're using, or what exactly you're typing in, but two things can be in play here. One is permissions...are you running this as root/sudo? And the other is that it only works on logged-in terminals, which it gets from utmp data.

ssameera · 06-09-2022, 11:21 AM

here are the details. Sorry missed it in earlier post

Host OS - Ubuntu 22.04. I am using virtual machine manager and have installed Centos 7 as the guest OS.

I have created 2 users in Centos. I am using wall command in the centos root. I checked mesg permissions on the 2 users. It says 'is y'.

When i run the wall command with some text, I am unable to see the same in the terminal of other two users.

TB0ne · 06-09-2022, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssameera

here are the details. Sorry missed it in earlier post
Host OS - Ubuntu 22.04. I am using virtual machine manager and have installed Centos 7 as the guest OS.

I have created 2 users in Centos. I am using wall command in the centos root. I checked mesg permissions on the 2 users. It says 'is y'. When i run the wall command with some text, I am unable to see the same in the terminal of other two users.

Ok...again, what exactly are you typing in?? Are you using su/sudo to do it?? Are they actually logged in when you're doing this? Are they logged in to the CentOS system, or the Ubuntu host???

lvm_ · 06-09-2022, 01:32 PM

Check permissions on wall, they should be -rwxr-sr-x 1 root tty

TB0ne · 06-09-2022, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lvm_

Check permissions on wall, they should be -rwxr-sr-x 1 root tty

Yep; that's what I have as well. And OP, I'll ask how those two users are logged in...are they SSH'ed into the system?

MadeInGermany · 06-12-2022, 04:36 AM

who, w, write, wall rely on registration in the utmp data file. Some Linux GUI developers are proud to no longer support this old Unix mechanism. AFAIK ssh still supports it.
Furthermore, ensure there is no
mesg n
in /etc/profile (or enable it with command
mesg y
)