--- cron-config.orig	2014-11-06 15:15:35.037348900 -0500
+++ cron-config	2014-11-07 12:52:53.970746100 -0500
@@ -138,114 +138,41 @@ get_NT() {
     return 0
 } # === End of get_NT() === #
 
-# ======================================================================
-# Routine: warning_for_etc_file
-# Display a warning message for the user about overwriting the specified
-# file in /etc.
-# ======================================================================
-warning_for_etc_file() {
-	echo
-	echo "WARNING: The command above overwrites any existing /etc/$1."
-	echo "You may want to preserve /etc/$1 before generating a new,"
-	echo "one, and then compare your saved /etc/$1 file with the"
-	echo "newly-generated one in case you need to restore other"
-	echo "entries."
-	echo
-} # === warning_for_etc_file() === #
-
 
 # ======================================================================
 # Routine: get_system_and_admins_gids
-# Get the ADMINs ids from /etc/group and /etc/passwd
+# Get the ADMINs ids from group and passwd
 # ======================================================================
 get_system_and_admins_ids() {
     ret=0
-    for fname in /etc/passwd /etc/group; do
-	if ls -ld "${fname}" | grep -Eq  '^-r..r..r..'; then
-	    true
-	else
-	    echo "The file $fname is not readable by all."
-	    echo "Please run 'chmod +r $fname'."
-	    echo
-	    ret=1
-	fi
-    done
-
-    [ ! -r /etc/passwd -o ! -r  /etc/group ] && return 1;
+    ADMINSGID=$(getent group S-1-5-32-544 | sed -e 's/[^:]*:[^:]*:\([0-9]*\):.*$/\1/')
+    SYSTEMGID=$(getent group S-1-5-18 | sed -e 's/[^:]*:[^:]*:\([0-9]*\):.*$/\1/')
+    ADMINSUID=$(getent passwd S-1-5-32-544 | sed -e 's/[^:]*:[^:]*:\([0-9]*\):.*$/\1/')
+    SYSTEMUID=$(getent passwd S-1-5-18 | sed -e 's/[^:]*:[^:]*:\([0-9]*\):.*$/\1/')
 
-    ADMINSGID=$(sed -ne '/^[^:]*:S-1-5-32-544:.*:/{s/[^:]*:[^:]*:\([0-9]*\):.*$/\1/p;q}' /etc/group)
-    SYSTEMGID=$(sed -ne '/^[^:]*:S-1-5-18:.*:/{s/[^:]*:[^:]*:\([0-9]*\):.*$/\1/p;q}' /etc/group)
     if [ -z "$ADMINSGID" -o -z "$SYSTEMGID" ]; then
-		echo "It appears that you do not have correct entries for the"
-		echo "ADMINISTRATORS and/or SYSTEM sids in /etc/group."
-		echo
-		echo "Use the 'mkgroup' utility to generate them"
-		echo "   mkgroup -l > /etc/group"
-		warning_for_etc_file group
+		echo "Entries for the ADMINISTRATORS and/or SYSTEM sids are not found in group."
 		ret=1;
     fi
 
-    ADMINSUID=$(sed -ne '/^[^:]*:[^:]*:[0-9]*:[0-9]*:[^:]*,S-1-5-32-544:.*:/{s/[^:]*:[^:]*:\([0-9]*\):.*$/\1/p;q}' /etc/passwd)
-    SYSTEMUID=$(sed -ne '/^[^:]*:[^:]*:[0-9]*:[0-9]*:[^:]*,S-1-5-18:.*:/{s/[^:]*:[^:]*:\([0-9]*\):.*$/\1/p;q}' /etc/passwd)
     if [ -z "$ADMINSUID" -o -z "$SYSTEMUID" ]; then
-		echo "It appears that you do not have correct entries for the"
-		echo "ADMINISTRATORS and/or SYSTEM sids in /etc/passwd."
-		echo
-		echo "Use the 'mkpasswd' utility to generate it"
-		echo "   mkpasswd -l > /etc/passwd."
-		warning_for_etc_file passwd
+		echo "Entries for the ADMINISTRATORS and/or SYSTEM sids are not found in passwd."
 		ret=1;
     fi
     return "${ret}"
 }  # === get_system_and_admins_ids() === #
 
-# ======================================================================
-# Routine: check_passwd_and_group
-# Check to see whether the user's password ID and group exist in the
-# system /etc/passwd and /etc/group files, respectively.
-# ======================================================================
-check_passwd_and_group() {
-    ret=0
-    if [ "$(id -gn)" = "mkpasswd" ]; then
-	echo "It appears that you do not have an entry for your user ID"
-	echo "in /etc/passwd."
-	echo
-	echo "If so, use the 'mkpasswd' utility to generate an"
-	echo "entry for your User ID in the password file:"
-	echo "   mkpasswd -l -u User_ID >> /etc/passwd"
-	echo "or"
-	echo "   mkpasswd -d -u User_ID >> /etc/passwd."
-	echo
-	ret=1
-    fi
-
-    if [ "$(id -gn)" = mkgroup ]; then
-	echo "It appears that you do not have an entry for your group ID"
-	echo "in /etc/group.  If this check is incorrect, then re-run"
-	echo "this script with the '-f' command-line option."
-	echo
-	echo "Otherwise, use the 'mkgroup' utility to generate an"
-	echo "entry for your group ID in the password file:"
-	echo "   mkgroup -l -g Group_id  >> /etc/group"
-	echo "or"
-	echo "   mkgroup -d -g Group_id >> /etc/group."
-	echo
-	ret=1
-    fi
-    return "${ret}"
-} # === End of check_passwd_and_group() === #
 
 # ======================================================================
 # Routine: check_user
-# Check to see that the specified user exists once in /etc/passwd 
+# Check that the specified user does no exists more than once in /etc/passwd 
 # ======================================================================
 check_user() {
- count=$(grep -ic "^$1:" /etc/passwd)
- if [ $count = 0 ]; then
-     echo "ERROR: User $1 does not appear in /etc/passwd."
-     echo
-     return 1;
+  
+ if [ ! -e /etc/passwd ]; then
+     return 0;
  fi
+ count=$(grep -ic "^$1:" /etc/passwd)
  if [ $count -gt 1 ]; then
      echo "WARNING: User $1 appears $count times in /etc/passwd."
      echo "This may confuse the system."
@@ -489,7 +416,6 @@ cron_diagnose() {
     fi
 
     get_system_and_admins_ids || return 1
-    check_passwd_and_group || return 1
 
     if [ "$username" = "$USER" ]
 	then
@@ -659,15 +585,22 @@ create_user() {
 	fi
     fi
     pwd_entry="$(mkpasswd -l -u "${username}" | sed -e 's?\(^[^:]*:[^:]*:[^:]*:[^:]*:[^:]*:\).*?\1/var/empty:/bin/false?')"
-    grep -Eiq "^${username}:" "${SYSCONFDIR}/passwd" && username_in_passwd=yes &&
-      grep -Fiq "${pwd_entry}" "${SYSCONFDIR}"/passwd && entry_in_passwd=yes
-    if [ "${entry_in_passwd}" != "yes" ]; then
-      if [ "${username_in_passwd}" = "yes" ]; then
-	temp="${TEMP_DIR}/passwd.$$.tmp"
-	grep -Ev "^${username}:" "${SYSCONFDIR}/passwd" > "${temp}" &&
-          mv -f "${temp}" "${SYSCONFDIR}/passwd" || return 1
-      fi
-      echo "${pwd_entry}" >> "${SYSCONFDIR}/passwd" || ret=1
+    fullusername=$(echo "$pwd_entry" | sed -e 's/^\([^:]*\):.*$/\1/') 
+    if [ ! -e "${SYSCONFDIR}/passwd" ]; then
+	echo "${pwd_entry}" > "${SYSCONFDIR}/passwd" || ret=1
+        chown "${ADMINSUID}" "${SYSCONFDIR}/passwd"
+        chmod 644  "${SYSCONFDIR}/passwd"
+    else
+    	grep -iq "^${fullusername}:" "${SYSCONFDIR}/passwd" && username_in_passwd=yes &&
+      		grep -Fiq "${pwd_entry}" "${SYSCONFDIR}"/passwd && entry_in_passwd=yes
+    	if [ "${entry_in_passwd}" != "yes" ]; then
+      	    if [ "${username_in_passwd}" = "yes" ]; then
+	        temp="${TEMP_DIR}/passwd.$$.tmp"
+	        grep -iv "^${fullusername}:" "${SYSCONFDIR}/passwd" > "${temp}" &&
+                mv -f "${temp}" "${SYSCONFDIR}/passwd" || return 1
+            fi
+            echo "${pwd_entry}" >> "${SYSCONFDIR}/passwd" || ret=1
+        fi
     fi
     return "${ret}"
 }