Where User Account and Group Information Is Stored

Depending on your site policy, user account and group information can be stored in your local system's /etc files or in a name or directory service as follows:

• The NIS+ name service information is stored in tables.

• The NIS name service information is stored in maps.

• The LDAP directory service information is stored in indexed database files.

Most user account information is stored in the passwd file. Password information is stored as follows:

• In the passwd file when you are using NIS or NIS+

• In the /etc/shadow file when you are using /etc files

• In the people container when you are using LDAP

Password aging is available when you are using NIS+ or LDAP, but not NIS.

Group information is stored in the group file for NIS, NIS+, and files. For LDAP, group information is stored in the group container.

Fields in the passwd File

The fields in the passwd file are separated by colons and contain the following information:

username:password:uid:gid:comment:home-directory:login-shell

For example:

kryten:x:101:100:Kryten Series 4000 Mechanoid:/export/home/kryten:/bin/csh

For a complete description of the fields in the passwd file, see the passwd(1) man page.

Default passwd File

The default passwd file contains entries for standard daemons. Daemons are processes that are usually started at boot time to perform some system-wide task, such as printing, network administration, or port monitoring.

root:x:0:0:Super-User:/:/sbin/sh
daemon:x:1:1::/:
bin:x:2:2::/usr/bin:
sys:x:3:3::/:
adm:x:4:4:Admin:/var/adm:
lp:x:71:8:Line Printer Admin:/usr/spool/lp:
uucp:x:5:5:uucp Admin:/usr/lib/uucp:
nuucp:x:9:9:uucp Admin:/var/spool/uucppublic:/usr/lib/uucp/uucico
smmsp:x:25:25:SendMail Message Submission Program:/:
listen:x:37:4:Network Admin:/usr/net/nls:
gdm:x:50:50:GDM Reserved UID:/:
webservd:x:80:80:WebServer Reserved UID:/:
postgres:x:90:90:PostgreSQL Reserved UID:/:/usr/bin/pfksh
unknown:x:96:96:Unknown Remote UID:/:
svctag:x:95:12:Service Tag UID:/:
nobody:x:60001:60001:NFS Anonymous Access User:/:
noaccess:x:60002:60002:No Access User:/:
nobody4:x:65534:65534:SunOS 4.x NFS Anonymous Access User:/:

Table 4-6 Default passwd File Entries

Fields in the shadow File

The fields in the shadow file are separated by colons and contain the following information:

username:password:lastchg:min:max:warn:inactive:expire

For example:

rimmer:86Kg/MNT/dGu.:8882:0::5:20:8978

For a complete description of the fields in the shadow file, see the shadow(4) and crypt(1) man pages.

Fields in the group File

The fields in the group file are separated by colons and contain the following information:

group-name:group-password:gid:user-list

For example:

bin::2:root,bin,daemon

For a complete description of the fields in the group file, see the group(4) man page.

Default group File

The default group file contains the following system groups that support some system-wide task, such as printing, network administration, or electronic mail. Many of these groups having corresponding entries in the passwd file.

root::0:
other::1:root
bin::2:root,daemon
sys::3:root,bin,adm
adm::4:root,daemon
uucp::5:root
mail::6:root
tty::7:root,adm
lp::8:root,adm
nuucp::9:root
staff::10:
daemon::12:root
sysadmin::14:
smmsp::25:
gdm::50:
webservd::80:
postgres::90:
unknown::96:
nobody::60001:
noaccess::60002:
nogroup::65534:

Table 4-7 Default group File Entries