pwd_mkdb(8) [osx man page]

PWD_MKDB(8)						    BSD System Manager's Manual 					       PWD_MKDB(8)

NAME

     pwd_mkdb -- generate the password databases

SYNOPSIS

     pwd_mkdb [-c] [-p | -s] [-d directory] [-u username] file

DESCRIPTION

     pwd_mkdb creates db(3) style secure and insecure databases for the specified file.  These databases are then installed into /etc/spwd.db and
     /etc/pwd.db, respectively.  The file is installed into /etc/master.passwd.  The file must be in the correct format (see passwd(5)).  It is
     important to note that the format used in this system is different from the historic Version 7 style format.

     The options are as follows:

     -c      Check if the password file is in the correct format.  Do not change, add, or remove any files.

     -d directory
	     Operate in a base directory other than the default of /etc.  All absolute paths (including file) will be made relative to directory.
	     Any directories specified as a part of file will be stripped off.	This option is used to create password databases in directories
	     other than etc; for instance in a chroot(8) jail.

     -p      Create a Version 7 style password file and install it into /etc/passwd.

     -s      Only update the secure version of the database.  This is most commonly used in conjunction with the -u flag during a password change.
	     Because the insecure database doesn't contain the password there is no reason to update it if the only change is in the password
	     field.  Cannot be used in conjunction with the -p flag.

     -u username
	     Only update the record for the specified user.  Utilities that operate on a single user can use this option to avoid the overhead of
	     rebuilding the entire database.  This option must never be used if the line number of the user's record in /etc/master.passwd has
	     changed.

     file    The absolute path to a file in master.passwd format, as described in passwd(5).

     The two databases differ in that the secure version contains the user's encrypted password and the insecure version has an asterisk ('*').

     The databases are used by the C library password routines (see getpwent(3)).

     pwd_mkdb exits zero on success, non-zero on failure.

FILES

     /etc/master.passwd  current password file
     /etc/passwd	 a Version 7 format password file
     /etc/pwd.db	 insecure password database file
     /etc/pwd.db.tmp	 temporary file
     /etc/spwd.db	 secure password database file
     /etc/spwd.db.tmp	 temporary file

SEE ALSO

     chpass(1), passwd(1), db(3), getpwent(3), passwd(5), vipw(8)

STANDARDS

     Previous versions of the system had a program similar to pwd_mkdb, mkpasswd, which built dbm(3) style databases for the password file but
     depended on the calling programs to install them.	The program was renamed in order that previous users of the program not be surprised by
     the changes in functionality.

BUGS

     Because of the necessity for atomic update of the password files, pwd_mkdb uses rename(2) to install them.  This, however, requires that the
     file specified on the command line live on the same file system as the /etc directory.

     There are the obvious races with multiple people running pwd_mkdb on different password files at the same time.  The front-ends to pwd_mkdb,
     chpass(1), passwd(1), and vipw(8) handle the locking necessary to avoid this problem.

BSD
								   June 6, 1993 							       BSD

Check Out this Related Man Page

PASSWD(1)						    BSD General Commands Manual 						 PASSWD(1)

NAME

     passwd -- modify a user's password

SYNOPSIS

     passwd [-i infosystem] [-l location] [name]

DESCRIPTION

     Passwd changes the user's password.  First, the user is prompted for their current password.  If the current password is correctly typed, a
     new password is requested.  The new password must be entered twice to avoid typing errors.

     The new password should be at least six characters long and not purely alphabetic.  Its total length should be less than _PASSWORD_LEN (cur-
     rently 128 characters) although some infosystems allow longer passwords.  Numbers, upper case letters and meta characters are encouraged.

     Once the password has been verified, passwd communicates the new password information to the authenticating host.

     -i infosystem
	   This option specifies where the password update should be applied.  Under Mac OS X 10.3, supported infosystems are:

	   netinfo
		 (default) The netinfo database containing the user's password.  If no -l option is specified, the local netinfo database is
		 assumed.

	   file  The local flat-files (included for legacy configurations).

	   nis	 A remote NIS server containing the user's password.

	   opendirectory
		 A system conforming to opendirectory APIs and supporting updates (including LDAP, netinfo, etc).

     -l location
	   This option causes the password to be updated in the given location of the choosen infosystem.  When changing only the local password,
	   pwd_mkdb(8) is used to update the password databases.

	   for netinfo,
		 location may be a domain name or server/tag

	   for file,
		 location may be a file name (/etc/master.passwd is the default)

	   for nis,
		 location may be a NIS domainname

	   for opendirectory,
		 location may be a directory node name

	   The super-user privilages are not required change a user's current password if only the local password is modified.

FILES

     /etc/master.passwd  The user database
     /etc/passwd	 A Version 7 format password file
     /etc/passwd.XXXXXX  Temporary copy of the password file

SEE ALSO

     chpass(1), login(1), passwd(5), pwd_mkdb(8), vipw(8,) nicl(1)

     Robert Morris and Ken Thompson, UNIX password security.

HISTORY

     A passwd command appeared in Version 6 AT&T UNIX.

4th Berkeley Distribution					   June 6, 1993 					 4th Berkeley Distribution

Linux and UNIX Man Pages

pwd_mkdb(8) [osx man page]

Check Out this Related Man Page