[gentoo-server] weird cron mail

[Aaron Walker]

I tried posting this to gentoo-user, but have yet to get any replies.

For the last two nights, on my web server, when vixie-cron runs the 
contents of /etc/cron.d/cron.daily, I get the following email:

Subject: Cron <root@hardcore> test -x /usr/sbin/run-crons && 
/usr/sbin/run-crons
From: Cron Daemon

/usr/bin/find: ./usr/portage/dev-perl/SVG/files: Input/output error
/usr/bin/find: ./usr/portage/dev-perl/SOAP/files: Input/output error
/usr/bin/find: ./usr/portage/dev-perl/Safe/files: Input/output error
/usr/bin/find: ./usr/portage/dev-perl/Scalar-List-Utils/files: 
Input/output error
/usr/bin/find: ./usr/portage/dev-perl/SOAP-Lite/files: Input/output error
/usr/bin/find: //usr/portage/dev-perl/SVG/files: Input/output error
/usr/bin/find: //usr/portage/dev-perl/SOAP/files: Input/output error
/usr/bin/find: //usr/portage/dev-perl/Safe/files: Input/output error
/usr/bin/find: //usr/portage/dev-perl/Scalar-List-Utils/files: 
Input/output error
/usr/bin/find: //usr/portage/dev-perl/SOAP-Lite/files: Input/output error
/usr/bin/find: //usr/portage/dev-perl/SVG/files: Input/output error
/usr/bin/find: //usr/portage/dev-perl/SOAP/files: Input/output error
/usr/bin/find: //usr/portage/dev-perl/Safe/files: Input/output error
/usr/bin/find: //usr/portage/dev-perl/Scalar-List-Utils/files: 
Input/output error
/usr/bin/find: //usr/portage/dev-perl/SOAP-Lite/files: Input/output error

And the following are in the system logs right after 'run-crons' runs:

May 28 03:10:00 [CRON] (root) CMD (test -x /usr/sbin/run-crons && 
/usr/sbin/run-crons )_
May 28 03:10:02 [modprobe] FATAL: Failed to open config file 
/etc/modprobe.conf: No such file or directory_
May 28 03:10:04 [kernel] is_leaf: item location seems wrong (second 
one): *3.6* [19055 24583 0x1 IND], item_len 4, item_location 3320, 
free_space(entry_count) 0
May 28 03:10:05 [modprobe] FATAL: Failed to open config file 
/etc/modprobe.conf: No such file or directory_
May 28 03:10:06 [kernel] is_leaf: item location seems wrong (second 
one): *3.6* [19055 24583 0x1 IND], item_len 4, item_location 3320, 
free_space(entry_count) 0

It's happened the last two nights exactly at 3:10am.  I don't really 
have that much that I run with cron, just chkrootkit (this would be my 
best guess as the culprit.. if so, then why now all of a sudden?) and a 
script that sends the output of various utiliy commands (w, free, df -h, 
and a few others, but none that would be running 'find' or modprobe).


Anyone have any ideas?

Regards
-- 
BOFH Excuse #258:

That's easy to fix, but I can't be bothered.

/*  Aaron Walker
  *  http://butsugenjitemple.org/~ka0ttic/
  */