The Password File
July 19, 1998
As far as UNIX is concerned, you
"are" your entry in the password file that is usually stored
as "/etc/passwd". Some security conscious sysadmins hide the
file elsewhere, but there is a good chance that you can find the
"passwd" file on your system if you do "cd /etc" then issue
an "ls" command.
The password file contains single line
entries for each user of the system. Each line contains 7 fields
delimited by a colon ":" character that define you in a
security sense. A sample line is shown below:
selena:B8776ERDS:42:101:Selena Sol:/usr/home/selena:/usr/bin/tcsh
The fields correspond to the following index:
| Field |
Explanation |
| username |
Username for logging in |
| password |
Encrypted Password or either an "x" or "*" character to
specify that the password is stored in a shadow file for
heightened security |
| userid |
A number that identifies you uniquely to the UNIX system
internals. |
| groupid |
A number that specifies your login group. We'll discuss this
in just a bit |
| Comment |
This field can be used to store any info desired by the
sysadmin. Usually it contains your name, but it can contain any
desired text. |
| home directory |
This is the location of your home directory (where you arrive
when you first login.) |
| shell |
The name of the shell you are using. |
Besides the password file, you are also
defined by your entry in the group file that we will look at
now.
Additional Resources:
Permissions
Introduction to UNIX for Web Developers | Table of Contents
The Group File
|
