minix/man/man5/passwd.5

.TH PASSWD 5
.SH NAME
passwd, group, shadow \- user and group databases, shadow passwords
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B /etc/passwd
.br
.B /etc/group
.br
.B /etc/shadow
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B /etc/passwd
lists all the users of the system, and
.B /etc/group
lists all the groups the users may belong to.  Both files also contain
encrypted passwords, numeric ID's etc.  Encrypted passwords may be hidden
in the file
.B /etc/shadow
if extra protection is warranted.
.PP
Each file is an text file containing one line per user or group.  The data
fields on a line are separated by colons.  Each line in the password file
has the following form:
.PP
.RS
.I name:passwd:uid:gid:gecos:dir:shell
.RE
.PP
The
.I name
field is the login name of a user, it is up to 8 letters or numbers long
starting with a letter.  The login name must be unique.
The
.I password
field is either empty (no password), a 13 character encrypted password as
returned by
.BR crypt (3),
or a login name preceded by two number signs (#) to index the shadow
password file.  Anything else (usually \(**) is invalid.
The
.I uid
and
.I gid
fields are two numbers indicating the users user-id and group-id.  These
id's do not have to be unique, there may be more than one name with the same
id's.
The
.I gecos
field can be set by the user.  It is expected to be a comma separated list
of personal data where the first item is the full name of the user.
The
.I dir
field
is the path name of the users home directory.
Lastly the
.I shell
field is the path name of the users login shell, it may be empty to indicate
.BR /bin/sh .
A Minix specific extension allows the shell field to contain extra space
separated arguments for the shell.
.PP
Lines in the group file consist of four fields:
.PP
.RS
.I name:passwd:gid:mem
.RE
.PP
The
.I name
field is the name of the group, same restrictions as a login name.
The
.I passwd
field may be used to let users change groups.
The
.I gid
field is a number telling the group-id.  The group-id is unique for a group.
The
.I mem
field is a comma separated list of login names that are special members of
the group.  If a system supports supplementary group id's then a user's set
of supplementary group id's is set to all the groups they are a member of.
If a system allows one to change groups then one can change to a group one
is a member of without using the group's password.
.PP
The shadow password file has precisely the same form as the password file,
except that only the
.I name
or
.I passwd
fields are used as yet.  The other fields are zero or empty.  A password in
the password file may have the form
.BI "##" user
to indicate the entry
.I user
in the shadow password file.  The password in this entry is then used for
authentication of the user.  The shadow file can only be read by the
privileged utility
.BR pwdauth (8),
so that the encrypted passwords in the shadow file are kept secret, and thus
safe from a dictionary attack.
.SS "Special password and group file entries"
There are several entries in the password and group files that are
preallocated for current or future use.  All id's less than 10 are reserved.
The special password file entries are:
.PP
.RS
.nf
root:##root:0:0:Big Brother:/usr/src:
daemon:*:1:1:The Deuce:/etc:
bin:##root:2:0:Binaries:/usr/src:
uucp:*:5:5:UNIX to UNIX copy:/usr/spool/uucp:/usr/sbin/uucico
news:*:6:6:Usenet news:/usr/spool/news:
ftp:*:7:7:Anonymous FTP:/usr/ftp:
nobody:*:9999:99::/tmp:
ast:*:8:3:Andrew S. Tanenbaum:/usr/ast:
.fi
.RE
.PP
The
.B root
id is of course the super user.
The
.B daemon
id is used by some daemons.  Some devices are protected so that only those
daemons can access them.
The
.B bin
id owns all sources and most binaries.
The
.BR uucp ,
.BR news
and
.BR ftp
id's are for serial line data transfer, usenet news, or ftp if so needed.
The
.B nobody
id is used in those cases that a program may not have any privileges at all.
The
.B ast
id is the honorary home directory for Andrew S. Tanenbaum, the creator of
Minix.  You can also find the initial contents for a new home directory
there.
.PP
The special group file entries are:
.PP
.RS
.nf
operator:*:0:
daemon:*:1:
bin:*:2:
other:*:3:
tty:*:4:
uucp:*:5:
news:*:6:
ftp:*:7:
kmem:*:8:
nogroup:*:99:
.fi
.RE
.PP
Groups with the same name as special user id are used with those id's.
The
.B operator
group is for the administrators of the system.  Users in this group are
granted special privileges.
The
.B other
group is for ordinary users.
The
.B tty
group is for terminal devices, and associated set-gid commands.
Same thing with the
.B kmem
group and memory devices.
.SH FILES
.TP 15n
.B /etc/passwd
The user database.
.TP
.B /etc/group
The group database.
.TP
.B /etc/shadow
The shadow password file.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR login (1),
.BR passwd (1),
.BR su (1),
.BR crypt (3),
.BR getpwent (3),
.BR getgrent (3),
.BR pwdauth (8).
.SH NOTES
The
.B nobody
and
.B nogroup
id's are likely to be renumbered to the highest possible id's once it is
figured out what they are.
.SH AUTHOR
Kees J. Bot (kjb@cs.vu.nl)