GETENT(1) User Commands GETENT(1)
NAME
getent - get entries from Name Service Switch libraries
SYNOPSIS
getent [option]... database key...
DESCRIPTION
The getent command displays entries from databases supported by the Name Service Switch libraries, which are configured in /etc/nss-
witch.conf. If one or more key arguments are provided, then only the entries that match the supplied keys will be displayed. Otherwise,
if no key is provided, all entries will be displayed (unless the database does not support enumeration).
The database may be any of those supported by the GNU C Library, listed below:
ahosts When no key is provided, use sethostent(3), gethostent(3), and endhostent(3) to enumerate the hosts database. This is identi-
cal to using hosts. When one or more key arguments are provided, pass each key in succession to getaddrinfo(3) with the
address family AF_UNSPEC, enumerating each socket address structure returned.
ahostsv4 Same as ahosts, but use the address family AF_INET.
ahostsv6 Same as ahosts, but use the address family AF_INET6. The call to getaddrinfo(3) in this case includes the AI_V4MAPPED flag.
aliases When no key is provided, use setaliasent(3), getaliasent(3), and endaliasent(3) to enumerate the aliases database. When one
or more key arguments are provided, pass each key in succession to getaliasbyname(3) and display the result.
ethers When one or more key arguments are provided, pass each key in succession to ether_aton(3) and ether_hostton(3) until a result
is obtained, and display the result. Enumeration is not supported on ethers, so a key must be provided.
group When no key is provided, use setgrent(3), getgrent(3), and endgrent(3) to enumerate the group database. When one or more key
arguments are provided, pass each numeric key to getgrgid(3) and each nonnumeric key to getgrnam(3) and display the result.
gshadow When no key is provided, use setsgent(3), getsgent(3), and endsgent(3) to enumerate the gshadow database. When one or more
key arguments are provided, pass each key in succession to getsgnam(3) and display the result.
hosts When no key is provided, use sethostent(3), gethostent(3), and endhostent(3) to enumerate the hosts database. When one or
more key arguments are provided, pass each key to gethostbyaddr(3) or gethostbyname2(3), depending on whether a call to
inet_pton(3) indicates that the key is an IPv6 or IPv4 address or not, and display the result.
initgroups
When one or more key arguments are provided, pass each key in succession to getgrouplist(3) and display the result. Enumera-
tion is not supported on initgroups, so a key must be provided.
netgroup When one key is provided, pass the key to setnetgrent(3) and, using getnetgrent(3) display the resulting string triple (host-
name, username, domainname). Alternatively, three keys may be provided, which are interpreted as the hostname, username and
domainname to match to a netgroup name via innetgr(3). Enumeration is not supported on netgroup, so either one or three keys
must be provided.
networks When no key is provided, use setnetent(3), getnetent(3), and endnetent(3) to enumerate the networks database. When one or
more key arguments are provided, pass each numeric key to getnetbyaddr(3) and each nonnumeric key to getnetbyname(3) and dis-
play the result.
passwd When no key is provided, use setpwent(3), getpwent(3), and endpwent(3) to enumerate the passwd database. When one or more key
arguments are provided, pass each numeric key to getpwuid(3) and each nonnumeric key to getpwnam(3) and display the result.
protocols When no key is provided, use setprotoent(3), getprotoent(3), and endprotoent(3) to enumerate the protocols database. When one
or more key arguments are provided, pass each numeric key to getprotobynumber(3) and each nonnumeric key to getprotobyname(3)
and display the result.
rpc When no key is provided, use setrpcent(3), getrpcent(3), and endrpcent(3) to enumerate the rpc database. When one or more key
arguments are provided, pass each numeric key to getrpcbynumber(3) and each nonnumeric key to getrpcbyname(3) and display the
result.
services When no key is provided, use setservent(3), getservent(3), and endservent(3) to enumerate the services database. When one or
more key arguments are provided, pass each numeric key to getservbynumber(3) and each nonnumeric key to getservbyname(3) and
display the result.
shadow When no key is provided, use setspent(3), getspent(3), and endspent(3) to enumerate the shadow database. When one or more key
arguments are provided, pass each key in succession to getspnam(3) and display the result.
OPTIONS
-s service, --service service
Override all databases with the specified service. (Since glibc 2.2.5.)
-s database:service, --service database:service
Override only specified databases with the specified service. The option may be used multiple times, but only the last service for
each database will be used. (Since glibc 2.4.)
-i, --no-idn
Disables IDN encoding in lookups for ahosts/getaddrinfo(3) (Since glibc-2.13.)
-?, --help
Print a usage summary and exit.
--usage
Print a short usage summary and exit.
-V, --version
Print the version number, license, and disclaimer of warranty for getent.
EXIT STATUS
One of the following exit values can be returned by getent:
0 Command completed successfully.
1 Missing arguments, or database unknown.
2 One or more supplied key could not be found in the database.
3 Enumeration not supported on this database.
SEE ALSO
nsswitch.conf(5)
COLOPHON
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latest version of this page, can be found at https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.
Linux 2015-04-19 GETENT(1)