This section covers the following information:
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 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
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 LDAP, but not NIS.
Group information is stored in the group file for NIS. For LDAP, group information is stored in the group container.