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Error while adding user or modifying user 'cannot lock /etc/passwd; try again later'

Solution Verified - Updated 2014-11-20T13:05:14+00:00 -

Issue

Receiving error while adding or modifying the user

cannot lock /etc/passwd; try again later

Unable to delete users using userdel command.

[root@example ~]# userdel test
userdel: unable to lock password file

While manually editing the /etc/passwd file gives following error:

"/etc/passwd" E212: Can't open file for writing

useradd and passwd command is working fine but can't remove users with userdel and chage command.

Environment

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

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