passwd

An entry in the passwd file is usually of the form:

userid:userPasswd:uidnumber:gidnumber:gecos:homeDir:shell

When there is a shadow file associated with the passwd file, it is usually of the form:

userid:userPasswd:::::::

The user ID in the passwd file and in the shadow file are identical, but the user's password is actually stored in the shadow file and not in the passwd file.

For example, the passwd file in the domain France.XYZ.com contains the following line for Pierre Durand:

pdurand:x:12345:67:Pierre Durand - Project Manager:/home/pdurand:/bin/csh

The x instead of the user password indicates that the actual password is stored in the shadow file. The shadow file contains the following line for Pierre Durand:

pdurand:yai957KJwXrjc:::::::

The DN of the directory entry created from these lines in the passwd file and in the shadow file is uid=pdurand, ou=People, dc=France, dc=XYZ, dc=com. The attributes stored under that entry and their values are: