The Joy of Penguins : Linux System Administration

Linux System Administration

User Management

/etc/passwd

The /etc/passwd file maps login names to user IDs.
It has seven fields:

username, encrypted password or an x or a * or blank, User ID, Group ID, User's real name, User's home directory, User's shell.

                  [root@localhost UserManagement]# more /etc/passwd
        root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
        bin:x:1:1:bin:/bin:/sbin/nologin
        daemon:x:2:2:daemon:/sbin:/sbin/nologin
        adm:x:3:4:adm:/var/adm:/sbin/nologin
        .
        .
        .
        xfs:x:43:43:X Font Server:/etc/X11/fs:/sbin/nologin
        named:x:25:25:Named:/var/named:/sbin/nologin
        ntp:x:38:38::/etc/ntp:/sbin/nologin
        gdm:x:42:42::/var/gdm:/sbin/nologin
        mlevan:x:500:500:Mike LeVan:/home/mlevan:/bin/bash

If the second field is an 'x' then the password is encrypted in /etc/shadow.
If the second file is a '*', then the user can not login.
If the second field is blank, then there is no password on the account.
No comment or blank lines are allowed in this file.
Any user can view this file.

Prev Page 2 Next