NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

       passwd - Password files

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

       A passwd file is a file consisting of records separated by
       newline characters, one record per user, containing  seven
       colon (:) separated fields.  These fields are as follows:

       User's  login  name.   The default length is 8 characters.
       User's encrypted password.  User's ID User's  login  group
       ID  General  information about the user User's home directory
 User's login shell

       The name field is the login used to  access  the  computer
       account,  and  the uid field is the number associated with
       it.  They should both be unique  across  the  system  (and
       often  across  a group of systems) since they control file
       access.

       While it is possible to have multiple entries with identical
 login names and/or identical user gid's, it is usually
       a mistake to do so.  Routines that manipulate these  files
       will  often  return  only one of the multiple entries, and
       that one by random selection.

       The login name must never begin with a hyphen  (-);  also,
       it is strongly suggested that neither uppercase characters
       or dots (.) be part of the name, as this tends to  confuse
       mailers.   No  field  may  contain a colon (:) as this has
       been used historically to separate the fields in the  user
       database.

       The  password field is the encrypted form of the password.
       If the password field is empty, no password is required to
       gain  access  to  the machine. Because these files contain
       the encrypted user passwords, they should not be  readable
       by anyone without appropriate privileges.

       Use  the  vipw  command  to  edit  password entries.  This
       ensures that the hashed password database is rebuilt.

                             Security Note

       If you have enhanced security installed  on  your  system,
       the password field contains an asterisk (*). The encrypted
       password  is  stored  in  the  user's  protected  password
       database.

       The gid field is the group that the user will be placed in
       upon login. Since the operating system  supports  multiple
       groups  (see  the groups command) this field currently has
       little special meaning.

       The gecos field normally contains comma (,) separated subfields
 as follows:

       User's  full  name  User's office number User's work phone
       number User's home phone number

       This information is used by the finger command.

       The user's home directory is the full UNIX pathname  where
       the user will be placed on login.

       The  shell  field  is  the  command  interpreter  the user
       prefers. If the shell field is  empty,  the  Bourne  shell
       (/bin/sh) is assumed.

       The allowable values for the UID are unsigned numbers from
       0 to 65535.

       The command pwck can be used to  verify  the  accuracy  of
       data entered in the passwd file.

EXAMPLES    [Toc]    [Back]

       root:TZVtfX5VbS3KY:0:1:System                   PRIVILEGED
       Account,,,:/:/bin/sh                      adm:*:5:16:Admin
       Login:/usr/adm:/bin/sh operator:HdgoklKwZOlvU:25:28:System
       PRIVILEGED      Account,,,:/etc/operator:      guest:Nologin:-2:-2:anonymous
          NFS          user:/:/bin/date
       osfuser:If2eoZ6gmghJo:50002:15:Osf
       User:/usr/users/osfuser:/bin/csh      marcy:*:201:20:Marcy
       Swanson,dev,x1234:/usr/users/marcy:/bin/sh

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

       Functions: getpwent(3)

       Commands: login(1), passwd(1), pwck(8), vipw(8)

       Files: prpasswd(4)



                                                        passwd(4)