osf1 man page for passwd

passwd(4)						     Kernel Interfaces Manual							 passwd(4)

NAME
       passwd - Password files

DESCRIPTION
       A  passwd  file	is a file consisting of records separated by newline characters, one record per user, containing seven colon (:) separated
       fields.	These fields are as follows:

       User's login name.  The default length is 8 characters.	User's encrypted password.  User's ID User's login group  ID  General  information
       about the user User's home directory User's login shell

       The  name  field is the login used to access the computer account, and the uid field is the number associated with it.  They should both be
       unique across the system (and often across a group of systems) since they control file access.

       While it is possible to have multiple entries with identical login names and/or identical user gid's, it is usually a  mistake  to  do  so.
       Routines that manipulate these files will often return only one of the multiple entries, and that one by random selection.

       The  login name must never begin with a hyphen (-); also, it is strongly suggested that neither uppercase characters or dots (.) be part of
       the name, as this tends to confuse mailers.  No field may contain a colon (:) as this has been used historically to separate the fields	in
       the user database.

       The  password  field  is the encrypted form of the password.  If the password field is empty, no password is required to gain access to the
       machine.  Because these files contain the encrypted user passwords, they should not be readable by anyone without appropriate privileges.

       Use the command to edit password entries.  This ensures that the hashed password database  is  rebuilt.	 If  you  have	enhanced  security
       installed  on  your  system, the password field contains an asterisk (*). The encrypted password is stored in the user's protected password
       database.

       The gid field is the group that the user will be placed in upon login.  Since the operating system supports multiple groups (see the groups
       command) this field currently has little special meaning.

       The gecos field normally contains comma (,) separated subfields as follows:

       User's full name User's office number User's work phone number User's home phone number

       This information is used by the finger command.

       The user's home directory is the full UNIX pathname where the user will be placed on login.

       The shell field is the command interpreter the user prefers.  If the shell field is empty, the Bourne shell (/bin/sh) is assumed.

       The allowable values for the UID are unsigned numbers from 0 to 65535.

       The command pwck can be used to verify the accuracy of data entered in the passwd file.

EXAMPLES
       root:TZVtfX5VbS3KY:0:1:System  PRIVILEGED  Account,,,:/:/bin/sh adm:*:5:16:Admin Login:/usr/adm:/bin/sh operator:HdgoklKwZOlvU:25:28:System
       PRIVILEGED    Account,,,:/etc/operator:	  guest:Nologin:-2:-2:anonymous    NFS	   user:/:/bin/date	osfuser:If2eoZ6gmghJo:50002:15:Osf
       User:/usr/users/osfuser:/bin/csh marcy:*:201:20:Marcy Swanson,dev,x1234:/usr/users/marcy:/bin/sh

RELATED INFORMATION
       Functions: getpwent(3)

       Commands: login(1), passwd(1), pwck(8), vipw(8)

       Files: prpasswd(4) delim off

																	 passwd(4)