NAME    [Toc]    [Back]

       mkpasswd  -  Creates  a version of the basic user database
       organized for efficient searches

SYNOPSIS    [Toc]    [Back]

       /usr/sbin/mkpasswd  [-v] [-s size] passwdfile

OPTIONS    [Toc]    [Back]

       Specifies that each stored entry  be  listed  on  standard
       output  Specifies  the  page block size to use in creating
       the hashed password database.   The  size  argument  is  a
       value  from  1  to  32, representing page block sizes from
       1024 to 32768, respectively.  The default page block  size
       is 1024.

DESCRIPTION    [Toc]    [Back]

       The  mkpasswd  command creates an auxiliary version of the
       basic user database in  a  form  organized  for  efficient
       searches  by the getpwuid subroutine and the getpwnam subroutine.
 The mkpasswd command reads the user attributes in
       the   /etc/passwd  file  and  creates  a  hashed  password
       database in the /etc/passwd.dir and /etc/passwd.pag  files
       (see ndbm(3) reference page).

       If  you specify a file other than /etc/passwd, the command
       reads the user attributes  in  that  file  and  creates  a
       hashed password database in the passwdfile.dir and passwdfile.pag
 files. It is important to know that the  password
       file  you  designate  must be in password file format (see
       the passwd(4) reference page).

       Note that if you use the vipw command to edit  a  password
       file, you do not need to use the mkpasswd command. This is
       because  the  vipw  command  automatically   invokes   the
       mkpasswd command which in turn creates the /etc/passwd.dir
       and /etc/passwd.pag files.

       Only the root user  should  have  execute  access  to  the
       mkpasswd command.

       Files    accessed:    File   /etc/passwd   /etc/passwd.pag
       /etc/passwd.dir passwdfile passwdfile.pag passwdfile.dir

       The mkpasswd command may fail with a errno value of  EFBIG
       if  the  password  file is large (30,000 entries or more).
       This failure can be avoided by using the -s option to  set
       a larger page block size for the hashed database.

RETURN VALUES    [Toc]    [Back]

       The mkpasswd command exits with a nonzero exit code if any
       errors are detected.

ERRORS    [Toc]    [Back]

       If the mkpasswd request is not successful,  the  following
       error message is displayed: The passwdfile.dir and passwdfile.pag
 files already exist from a previous execution  of
       the same mkpasswd command.

SECURITY NOTE    [Toc]    [Back]

       If  enhanced security is running on your system, the passwords
 are stored in the extended attributes database.  See
       the Security guide for more information about passwords in
       the enhanced security environment.

EXAMPLES    [Toc]    [Back]

       If you have not used vipw to edit the /etc/passwd and wish
       to  generate a hashed password database, enter the following:
 /usr/sbin/mkpasswd -v /etc/passwd

       An  auxiliary  version  of   the   basic   user   database
       (/etc/passwd.dir  and  /etc/passwd.pag  files)  is created
       with a hashing algorithm.

       To create a hashed password database  with  a  page  block
       size of 8192, enter the following: /usr/sbin/makepasswd -s
       8 /etc/passwd

FILES    [Toc]    [Back]

       Specifies the command path

SEE ALSO    [Toc]    [Back]

       Commands: adduser(8), passwd(1), passwd(4), vipw(8)

       Functions: getpwent(3), ndbm(3)

       Manuals: Security



                                                      mkpasswd(8)