Unable to change FTP user password for a Subscription in Plesk: usermng: PAM password change failed

Symptoms

• Changing the FTP user password in Plesk > Domains > example.com > FTP Access > john_doe results in the following error:

  Error: SysUser::update() failed: Unable to execute usermng: usermng: PAM password change failed: 20, Authentication token manipulation error Error description: Additional info: . usermng: Failed to set password for user 'john_doe'

• Accessing File Manager fails with the following error in Plesk UI:

  external error:
  Unable to find the directory /var/www/vhosts/example.com/: filemng failed: filemng: Unable to getpwnam for user john_doe User john_doe not found move process 15503 to cgroup for user john_doe failed filemng: Unable to getpwnam for user john_doe filemng: User john_doe not found

Cause

The system user was deleted from the operating system but exists in the Plesk database.

Resolution

1. Connect to the server using SSH.

2. Re-create FTP user(s) using data from Plesk database:

   • For a single missing user run the following command. (where john_doe is replaced by the missing system user from the errors):

     # MYSQL_PWD=`cat /etc/psa/.psa.shadow` mysql -u admin -Dpsa -Ns -e"select s.login, a.password, s.home, s.shell from sys_users s, accounts a where a.id = s.account_id AND s.login='john_doe'" | awk '{ print "PSA_PASSWD=x27" $2 "x27 /usr/local/psa/admin/sbin/usermng --add-user --user=" $1 " --homedir=" $3 " --shell=" ($4?$4:"/bin/false")}' | sh -x

   • For several missing system users, run the same command but for all users instead. Note that already existing users will not be re-created:

     # MYSQL_PWD=`cat /etc/psa/.psa.shadow` mysql -u admin -Dpsa -Ns -e"select s.login, a.password, s.home, s.shell from sys_users s, accounts a where a.id = s.account_id" | awk '{ print "PSA_PASSWD=x27" $2 "x27 /usr/local/psa/admin/sbin/usermng --add-user --user=" $1 " --homedir=" $3 " --shell=" ($4?$4:"/bin/false")}' | sh -x 1>/dev/null 2>&1

3. Repair file access permissions for /vhosts/ directories

   • Via Plesk UI:
     Log into Plesk and go to Tools & Settings > Diagnose & Repair > File System > click Repair

   • Via CLI:

     # /usr/local/psa/bin/repair --restore-vhosts-permissions