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<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.3//EN"
		"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.3/docbookx.dtd">
<refentry id='passwd.5'>
  <!-- $Id: passwd.5.xml,v 1.7 2005/06/16 17:59:21 kloczek Exp $ -->
  <refmeta>
    <refentrytitle>passwd</refentrytitle>
    <manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
  </refmeta>
  <refnamediv id='name'>
    <refname>passwd</refname>
    <refpurpose>The password file</refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>
  
  <refsect1 id='description'>
    <title>DESCRIPTION</title>
    <para><filename>/etc/passwd</filename> contains various pieces of
      information for each user account. Included is:
    </para>
    <itemizedlist mark='bullet'>
      <listitem>
        <para>login name</para>
      </listitem>    
      <listitem>
        <para>optional encrypted password</para>
      </listitem>    
      <listitem>
        <para>numerical user ID</para>
      </listitem>    
      <listitem>
        <para>numerical group ID</para>
      </listitem>    
      <listitem>
        <para>user name or comment field</para>
      </listitem>    
      <listitem>
        <para>user home directory</para>
      </listitem>    
      <listitem>
        <para>user command interpreter</para>
      </listitem>    
    </itemizedlist>

    <para>
      The password field may not be filled if shadow passwords have been
      enabled. If shadow passwords are being used, the encrypted password
      will be found in <filename>/etc/shadow</filename>. The encrypted
      password consists of characters from the 64 characters alphabet a thru
      z, A thru Z, 0 thru 9, \. and /. Optionally it can start with a "$"
      character. This means the encrypted password was generated using
      another (not DES) algorithm. For example if it starts with "$1$" it
      means the MD5-based algorithm was used. Refer to
      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>crypt</refentrytitle>
      <manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry> for details on how this string
      is interpreted.
    </para>

    <para>The comment field is used by various system utilities, such as
      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>finger</refentrytitle>
      <manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>.
    </para>
    
    <para>The home directory field provides the name of the initial working
      directory. <emphasis remap='B'>Login</emphasis> uses this information
      to set the value of the <envar>$HOME</envar> environmental variable.
    </para>
    
    <para>
      The command interpreter field provides the name of the user's
      command language interpreter, or the name of the initial program to
      execute. <emphasis remap='B'>Login</emphasis> uses this information
      to set the value of the <envar>$SHELL</envar> environmental variable.
      If this field is empty, it defaults to the value
      <filename>/bin/sh</filename>.
    </para>
  </refsect1>
  
  <refsect1 id='files'>
    <title>FILES</title>
    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><filename>/etc/passwd</filename></term>
        <listitem>user account information</listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>
  
  <refsect1 id='see_also'>
    <title>SEE ALSO</title>
    <para><citerefentry>
        <refentrytitle>login</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry>
        <refentrytitle>passwd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry>
        <refentrytitle>su</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry>
        <refentrytitle>shadow</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry>
        <refentrytitle>pwconv</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry>
        <refentrytitle>pwunconv</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry>
        <refentrytitle>sulogin</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>
    </para>
  </refsect1>
  
  <refsect1 id='author'>
    <title>AUTHOR</title>
    <para>Julianne Frances Haugh (jockgrrl@ix.netcom.com)</para>
  </refsect1>
</refentry>
