mkpasswd(8) System Manager's Manual mkpasswd(8)
NAME
mkpasswd - Creates a version of the basic user database organized for efficient searches
SYNOPSIS
/usr/sbin/mkpasswd [-v] [-s size] passwdfile
DESCRIPTION
The mkpasswd command creates an auxiliary version of the basic user database in a form organized for efficient searches by the getpwuid
subroutine and the getpwnam subroutine. The mkpasswd command reads the user attributes in the /etc/passwd file and creates a hashed pass-
word database in the /etc/passwd.dir and /etc/passwd.pag files (see ndbm(3) reference page).
If you specify a file other than /etc/passwd, the command reads the user attributes in that file and creates a hashed password database in
the passwdfile.dir and passwdfile.pag files. It is important to know that the password file you designate must be in password file format
(see the passwd(4) reference page).
Note that if you use the vipw command to edit a password file, you do not need to use the mkpasswd command. This is because the vipw com-
mand automatically invokes the mkpasswd command which in turn creates the /etc/passwd.dir and /etc/passwd.pag files.
Only the root user should have execute access to the mkpasswd command.
Files accessed: File /etc/passwd /etc/passwd.pag /etc/passwd.dir passwdfile passwdfile.pag passwdfile.dir
The mkpasswd command may fail with a errno value of EFBIG if the password file is large (30,000 entries or more). This failure can be
avoided by using the -s option to set a larger page block size for the hashed database.
FLAGS
Specifies that each stored entry be listed on standard output Specifies the page block size to use in creating the hashed password data-
base. The size argument is a value from 1 to 32, representing page block sizes from 1024 to 32768, respectively. The default page block
size is 1024.
EXAMPLES
If you have not used vipw to edit the /etc/passwd and wish to generate a hashed password database, enter the following: /usr/sbin/mkpasswd
-v /etc/passwd An auxiliary version of the basic user database (/etc/passwd.dir and /etc/passwd.pag files) is created with a hashing algo-
rithm.
To create a hashed password database with a page block size of 8192, enter the following: /usr/sbin/makepasswd -s 8 /etc/passwd
SECURITY NOTE
If enhanced security is running on your system, the passwords are stored in the extended attributes database. See the Security guide for
more information about passwords in the enhanced security environment.
RETURN VALUES
The mkpasswd command exits with a nonzero exit code if any errors are detected.
ERRORS
If the mkpasswd request is not successful, the following error message is displayed: The passwdfile.dir and passwdfile.pag files already
exist from a previous execution of the same mkpasswd command.
FILES
Specifies the command path
RELATED INFORMATION
Commands: adduser(8), passwd(1), passwd(4), vipw(8)
Functions: getpwent(3), ndbm(3)
Manuals: Security delim off
mkpasswd(8)