HP-UX Reference (11i v1 05/09) - 4 File Formats (vol 8)

p
passwd(4) passwd(4)
during earlier stages of the bootup process. Changing the login shell of the root user to a value other than
/sbin/sh is allowed but may result in a non-functional system.
The information kept in the gecos field may conflict with unsupported or future uses of this field. Use of
the gecos field for keeping user identification information has not been formalized within any of the indus-
try standards. The current use of this field is derived from its use within the Berkeley Software Distribu-
tion. Future standards may define this field for other purposes.
The following fields have size limitations as noted:
• Login name field can be no longer than 8 characters;
• Initial working directory field can be no longer than 63 characters;
• Program field can be no longer than 44 characters.
• Results are unpredictable if these fields are longer than the limits specified above.
The following fields have numerical limitations as noted:
• The user ID is an integer value between
0 and UID_MAX-1 inclusive. As a special case -2 maybe
present.
• The group ID is an integer value between
0 and UID_MAX-1 inclusive. As a special case
-2 maybe
present.
• If either of these values are out of range, the getpwent(3C) functions reset the ID value to
(
UID_MAX).
EXAMPLES
Shadow Password Example
root:x:0:10:System Administrator:/:/sbin/sh
joe:x:100:50:Joe User,Post 4A,12345:/home/joe:/usr/bin/ksh
Usually the password fields of user root and user joe contain the actual encrypted passwords. If the
ShadowPassword bundle is installed, and if the system has been converted to a shadowed standard sys-
tem, the password fields of user root and user joe contain an ’x’, and the actual encrypted passwords
reside in /etc/shadow .
NIS Example
root:3Km/o4Cyq84Xc:0:10:System Administrator:/:/sbin/sh
joe:r4hRJr4GJ4CqE:100:50:Joe User,Post 4A,12345:/home/joe:/usr/bin/ksh
+john:
-bob:
+@documentation:no-login:
-@marketing:
+:::Guest
In the NIS example, there are specific entries for users root and joe, in case the Network Information
System is out of order.
• User
john’s password entry in the Network Information System is incorporated without
change.
• Any subsequent entries for user bob are ignored.
• The password field for anyone in the netgroup documentation is disabled.
• Users in netgroup marketing are not returned by getpwent(3C) and thus are not allowed to
log in.
• Anyone else can log in with their usual password, shell, and home directory, but with a gecos
field of Guest.
FILES
/tcb/files/auth/*/* Protected password database used when system is converted to trusted sys-
tem.
/etc/passwd Standard password file used by HP-UX.
/etc/shadow Shadow password file.
Section 4−−202 Hewlett-Packard Company − 3 − HP-UX 11i Version 1: September 2005