Uncategorized – Page 32 – Eclipse Systems Knowledge Base

How do I determine which version of VSIFAX is installed?

From the command line:

vfx -V

What type of fax hardware does VSIFAX support?

Here is the official list of the fax hardware and software currently supported by Esker’s VSIFAX software.

Eclipse certifies and supports the following fax methods: Faxing

How do I troubleshoot VSIFAX?

You must be logged into the server as root to run these commands.

First, check the fax server status:

vfxstat -a

If you see an error similar to the following, the server is not running:

vfxstat: Cannot login: Server on 127.0.0.1 not running

To start the fax server:

vfxsched start

To restart the fax server:

vfxsched restart

If the server is running, you will see output similar to the following:

[root@server ~]# vfxstat -a
server hostname     : server.localdomain
server state        : running
server startup time : 2010/03/01 15:38:19
server current time : 2010/03/01 15:38:22
server version      : 6.0.0
server buildno      : 437p20
server build info   : Linux el3.lfdevel.com 2.4.21-4.ELsmp #1 SMP Fri Oct 3 17:52:56 EDT 2003 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
server run info     : Linux:2.6.18-164.10.1.el5:#1 SMP Wed Dec 30 18:35:28 EST 2009:x86_64
server serial number: 960010320081535-060-5
server license mode : real
number of users     : 5
number of ports     : 4
Server load bias    : 5
Server diff bias    : 5

Default destination : fax1

Device        Jobs  Ready  Acc  Ena  Snd  Rcv  FIM   Inbox     Port
------------  ----  -----  ---  ---  ---  ---  ----  --------  ----------
FoDC             0      0  yes  no   yes  no   et    N/A
lb               0      0  yes  yes  yes  no   lb    N/A
lcr              0      0  no   no   no   no   hold  N/A
modem1           0      0  yes  no   yes  yes  cx    vsifax    /dev/ttyACM0
modem2           0      0  yes  yes  yes  yes  cx    vsifax    /dev/ttyS0
sm               0      0  yes  yes  yes  no   sm    N/A       

Class         Jobs  Ready  Acc  Snd  Members
------------  ----  -----  ---  ---  -------
fax1             0      0  yes  yes  modem1,modem2

Device       Comments              State
-----------  --------------------  -------------
FoDC         Fax on Demand         Not running [Disabled by administrator]
lb           LoopBack              Idle
lcr          LCR hold queue        Not running [Holding queue only]
modem1                       Not running [Disabled by administrator]
modem2                       Idle
sm           SendMail              Idle

This output indicates:

The fax server is running
The 6.0.0 version of fax software is installed
There are two modems installed:
- modem1 is on physical port /dev/ttyACM0 (USB port)
- modem2 is on physical port /dev/ttyS0 (serial port)
modem1 is disabled (Ena = no, “Disabled by administrator”)
modem2 is idle, waiting for a fax to be sent
There is a single fax class (fax1), which corresponds to the “fax1” printer in Eclipse
The fax1 class has two members in the modem pool (modem1, modem2)

To enable a modem:

vfxadmin enable modem1

If a modem keeps going down, check the modem log:

more $VSIFAX/spool/logs/modem1

Here is an example error message that indicates a problem with the phone line (no dialtone):

15.28.08.972: EVT: <--- "NO DIALTONE"

In this case, verify that calls can be placed from the fax line using a standard analog phone.
Here is an example error message that indicates a problem with permissions on the serial port:

modem3-5:14.55.07.779: FIM: Cannot open /dev/ttyACM2: Input/output error

In this case, open permissions on the serial port and enable the modem:

chmod a+rw /dev/ttyACM2
vfxadmin enable modem3

To see a list of all submitted/sent faxes, type the following command at the command line:

vfxolog|more

If you continue to have issues with VSIFAX not running correctly, please refer to Esker’s troubleshooting documentation and open a case with Esker directly or with Epicor Eclipse Systems support.

How do I change the default Linux password policy?

Here are a couple resources that cover how to change the default Linux password policy:

How do I disable dictionary checking for Linux passwords?

We do not recommend you disable dictionary checking or allow null (blank) passwords. The instructions below are provided for systems administrators who fully understand and accept the implications.

If you do not want passwords or permutations of them to be checked against a dictionary of words, you are not interested in checking passwords for their relative security quality or if they have been used before, and you are aware of the security implications of this, here’s how to disable the additional checks:

Make a backup copy of the file /etc/pam.d/system-auth:

cp /etc/pam.d/system-auth /etc/pam.d/system-auth.`date +%Y%m%d.%H%M%S`

Edit this file with a text editor:

vim /etc/pam.d/system-auth

Remove (or comment out) the line that references the pam_cracklib.so module. On the following line, remove the use_authok option. For example, the new file might look like:

#%PAM-1.0
# This file is auto-generated.
# User changes will be destroyed the next time authconfig is run.
auth        required      /lib/security/$ISA/pam_env.so
auth        sufficient    /lib/security/$ISA/pam_unix.so likeauth nullok
auth        required      /lib/security/$ISA/pam_deny.so

account     required      /lib/security/$ISA/pam_unix.so

password    sufficient    /lib/security/$ISA/pam_unix.so nullok md5 shadow
password    required      /lib/security/$ISA/pam_deny.so

session     required      /lib/security/$ISA/pam_limits.so
session     required      /lib/security/$ISA/pam_unix.so

Resources: