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User could not be found on the system:: No error information

How to fix 'User could not be found on the system: No error information' error while using PAM LDAP?


Overview: This article discusses troubleshooting related to user identification issues within systems configured with Ezeelogin and pam_ldap, highlighting the impact of the nscd service status.


Error while SSH'ing into gateway server:

root@desktop ~]# ssh username@gateway-server

User not found. Contact administrator.

  • This happens when you have configured Ezeelogin with pam_ldap.
  • This happens because service nscd is not running and restarting it would fix the issue.
  • Also, it is recommended that the positive time-to-live be reduced to a minute or two.

Check ezsh.log of gateway user to get more error information:

root@gateway ~]# tail /home/{username}/ezsh.log

example: tail /home/alex/ezsh.log

New session started from NA:NA to NA:NA on Mon Oct 6 12:22:17 2025
User could not be found on the system: No error information


Steps to fix the issue:

Step 1: Check if nscd service is installed and running.

root@gateway ~]# apt install nscd -y      #Debain-based OS

root@gateway ~]# yum install nscd -y      #RHEL-based OS

root@gateway ~]# systemctl start nscd

root@gateway ~]# systemctl status nscd

Step 2: Edit the nscd.conf file and make the following changes.

root@gateway ~]# vim /etc/nscd.conf

enable-cache             passed          yes

positive-time-to-live    passwd          60

root@gateway ~]# systemctl restart nscd

Step 3: Try to SSH to gateway server as the same user and the issue will be resolved.