Using locate.updatedb doesn't work in Lion

A week ago I upgraded to Lion from Snow Leopard. I want to use the locate command, but the locate database has not been built yet. So I tried running

sudo launchctl -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.locate.plist

The plist file only points to /usr/libexec/locate.updatedb and I keep getting the following error in syslog su: pam_acct_mgmt: error in service module
When I try running locate.updatedb directly I get the same error in syslog.

I could handle not using locate, but what bugs me the most is that I don't know what's causing the issue.

Solution 1:

Debugging pam can be tricky.

Have you tried making a real root shell with sudo -s and running the /usr/libexec/locate.updatedb command.

Alternatively, you could try making a new admin account to be sure your admin account has correct privelages/authentication. Any odd things like server or OpenLDAP that we should know of?

Solution 2:

This seems to work for me.

sudo /usr/libexec/locate.updatedb