diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'share/man/man5/passwd.5')
| -rw-r--r-- | share/man/man5/passwd.5 | 21 |
1 files changed, 14 insertions, 7 deletions
diff --git a/share/man/man5/passwd.5 b/share/man/man5/passwd.5 index e1a4ac328a72..9476ec05d8f3 100644 --- a/share/man/man5/passwd.5 +++ b/share/man/man5/passwd.5 @@ -65,7 +65,8 @@ The .Nm master.passwd file is readable only by root, and consists of newline separated records, one per user, containing ten colon (``:'') separated -fields. These fields are as follows: +fields. +These fields are as follows: .Pp .Bl -tag -width password -offset indent .It name @@ -105,18 +106,21 @@ The .Ar name field is the login used to access the computer account, and the .Ar uid -field is the number associated with it. They should both be unique +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. .Pp While it is possible to have multiple entries with identical login names -and/or identical user id's, it is usually a mistake to do so. Routines +and/or identical user id'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. .Pp The login name must never begin with a hyphen (``-''); also, it is strongly suggested that neither upper-case characters or dots (``.'') be part -of the name, as this tends to confuse mailers. No field may contain a +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. .Pp @@ -126,7 +130,8 @@ form of the password. If the .Ar password field is empty, no password will be required to gain access to the -machine. This is almost invariably a mistake. +machine. +This is almost invariably a mistake. Because these files contain the encrypted user passwords, they should not be readable by anyone without appropriate privileges. .Pp @@ -137,7 +142,8 @@ this field currently has little special meaning. .Pp The .Ar class -field is a key for a user's login class. Login classes +field is a key for a user's login class. +Login classes are defined in .Xr login.conf 5 , which is a @@ -280,7 +286,8 @@ or fields, the specified numbers will override the information retrieved from the Hesiod domain or the .Tn NIS -maps. As well, if the +maps. +As well, if the .Ar gecos , .Ar dir or |