PW_LOCK(3)						   BSD Library Functions Manual 						PW_LOCK(3)

NAME

     pw_lock, pw_mkdb, pw_abort, pw_setprefix, pw_getprefix -- passwd file update functions

LIBRARY

     System Utilities Library (libutil, -lutil)

SYNOPSIS

     #include <util.h>

     int
     pw_lock(int retries);

     int
     pw_mkdb(const char *username, int secureonly);

     void
     pw_abort(void);

     int
     pw_setprefix(const char *new_prefix);

     const char *
     pw_getprefix(void);

DESCRIPTION

     The pw_lock(), pw_mkdb(), and pw_abort() functions allow a program to update the system passwd database.

     The pw_lock() function attempts to lock the passwd database by creating the file /etc/ptmp, and returns the file descriptor of that file.	If
     retries is greater than zero, pw_lock() will try multiple times to open /etc/ptmp, waiting one second between tries.  In addition to being a
     lock file, /etc/ptmp will also hold the contents of the new passwd file.

     The pw_mkdb() function updates the passwd file from the contents of /etc/ptmp.  You should finish writing to and close the file descriptor
     returned by pw_lock() before calling pw_mkdb().  If pw_mkdb() fails and you do not wish to retry, you should make sure to call pw_abort() to
     clean up the lock file.  If the username argument is not NULL, only database entries pertaining to the specified user will be modified.  If
     the secureonly argument is non-zero, only the secure database will be updated.

     The pw_abort() function aborts a passwd file update by deleting /etc/ptmp.  The passwd database remains unchanged.

     The pw_setprefix() function defines the root directory used for passwd file updates.  If the prefix is set to /newroot pw_lock() will operate
     on /newroot/etc/ptmp afterwards.  The default prefix is an empty string.

     The pw_getprefix() function returns the root directory which is currently used for passwd file updates.

RETURN VALUES

     The pw_lock() and pw_mkdb() functions return -1 if they are unable to complete properly.

FILES

     /etc/master.passwd
     /etc/ptmp

SEE ALSO

     pw_init(3), pwd_mkdb(8)

BSD
								 February 17, 2007							       BSD