unable to login as root when network is not available

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Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 1
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 2
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 Service Pack 3
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11

Situation

NIS has been installed and configured
Due to problem with NIC no network is available

Resolution

In /etc/security/limits.conf there are limits configured for groups. This means that every login will be check if there are NIS groups available. This also counts for root. As this takes more then 60 seconds, root login will timeout.

There are 3 possible solutions:

Prevent the network problem. Be sure that the selected NIC driver works before configuring NIS.
In /etc/login.defs change the following parameter:
LOGIN_TIMEOUT 600
In /etc/pam.d/common-session add the following as the first line:
session [default=ignore success=1] pam_succeed_if.so quiet uid eq 0

Additional Information

Disclaimer

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