2 .\" David L. Nugent. All rights reserved.
4 .\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
5 .\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
7 .\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
8 .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
9 .\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
10 .\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
11 .\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
13 .\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY DAVID L. NUGENT AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
14 .\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
15 .\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
16 .\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL DAVID L. NUGENT OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
17 .\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
18 .\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
19 .\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
20 .\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
21 .\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
22 .\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
25 .\" $FreeBSD: src/usr.sbin/pw/pw.8,v 1.19.2.12 2003/05/08 15:01:44 trhodes Exp $
26 .\" $DragonFly: src/usr.sbin/pw/pw.8,v 1.2 2003/06/17 04:30:01 dillon Exp $
33 .Nd create, remove, modify & display system users and groups
72 .Op Fl u Ar min , Ns Ar max
73 .Op Fl i Ar min , Ns Ar max
155 .Op Fl m Ar newmembers
189 utility is a command-line based editor for the system
193 files, allowing the superuser an easy to use and standardized way of adding,
194 modifying and removing users and groups.
197 only operates on the local user and group files.
199 users and groups must be
205 utility handles updating the
209 and the secure and insecure
210 password database files, and must be run as root.
212 The first one or two keywords provided to
214 on the command line provide the context for the remainder of the arguments.
233 all mean the same thing.)
234 This flexibility is useful for interactive scripts calling
236 for user and group database manipulation.
237 Following these keywords, you may optionally specify the user or group name or numeric
238 id as an alternative to using the
244 The following flags are common to most or all modes of operation:
246 .Bl -tag -width "-G grouplist"
248 This flag sets an alternate location for the password, group and configuration files,
249 and may be used to maintain a user/group database in an alternate location.
250 If this switch is specified, the system
252 will not be sourced for default configuration data, but the file pw.conf in the
253 specified directory will be used instead (or none, if it does not exist).
256 flag may be used to override this behaviour.
257 As an exception to the general rule where options must follow the operation
260 flag may be used on the command line before the operation keyword.
266 to obtain policy information on how new user accounts and groups are to be created.
269 option specifies a different configuration file.
270 While most of the contents of the configuration file may be overridden via
271 command-line options, it may be more convenient to keep standard information in a
274 Use of this option causes
276 to suppress error messages, which may be useful in interactive environments where it
277 is preferable to interpret status codes returned by
279 rather than messing up a carefully formatted display.
281 This option is available in
285 operations, and tells
287 to output the result of the operation without updating the user or group
291 option to switch between standard passwd and readable formats.
293 Using this option with any of the update modes causes
297 after changing to the directory
299 This is intended to allow automatic updating of
302 If separate passwd and group files are being used by
306 option to specify the location of the
308 passwd database so that
310 will concurrently update it with the system password
314 The following options apply to the
320 .Bl -tag -width "-G grouplist"
322 Specify the user/account name.
324 Specify the user/account numeric id.
326 Usually, you only need to provide one or the other of these options, as the account
327 name will imply the uid, or vice versa.
328 However, there are times when you need to provide both.
329 For example, when changing the uid of an existing user with
331 or overriding the default uid when creating a new account.
334 to automatically allocate the uid to a new user with
341 You may also provide either the account or userid immediately after the
347 keywords on the command line without using the
354 .Bl -tag -width "-G grouplist"
356 This field sets the contents of the passwd GECOS field, which normally contains up
357 to four comma-separated fields containing the user's full name, office or location,
358 and work and home phone numbers.
359 These sub-fields are used by convention only, however, and are optional.
360 If this field is to contain spaces, you need to quote the comment itself with double
363 Avoid using commas in this field as these are used as sub-field separators, and the
366 character also cannot be used as this is the field separator for the passwd
369 This option sets the account's home directory.
370 Normally, you will only use this if the home directory is to be different from the
371 default determined from
375 with the account name as a subdirectory.
377 Set the account's expiration date.
378 Format of the date is either a UNIX time in decimal, or a date in
380 format, where dd is the day, mmm is the month, either in numeric or alphabetic format
381 ('Jan', 'Feb', etc) and year is either a two or four digit year.
382 This option also accepts a relative date in the form
386 is a decimal, octal (leading 0) or hexadecimal (leading 0x) digit followed by the
387 number of Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, Months or Years from the current date at
388 which the expiration date is to be set.
390 Set the account's password expiration date.
391 This field is similar to the account expiration date option, except that it
392 applies to forced password changes.
393 This is set in the same manner as the
397 Set the account's primary group to the given group.
399 may be defined by either its name or group number.
400 .It Fl G Ar grouplist
401 Set additional group memberships for an account.
403 is a comma-separated list of group names or group numbers.
404 The user's name is added to the group lists in
407 removed from any groups not specified in
409 Note: a user should not be added to their primary group with
411 Also, group membership changes do not take effect for current user login
412 sessions, requiring the user to reconnect to be affected by the changes.
414 This option sets the login class for the user being created.
419 for more information on user login classes.
421 This option instructs
423 to attempt to create the user's home directory.
424 While primarily useful when adding a new account with
426 this may also be of use when moving an existing user's home directory elsewhere on
428 The new home directory is populated with the contents of the
430 directory, which typically contains a set of shell configuration files that the
431 user may personalize to taste.
434 is used on an account with
436 existing configuration files in the user's home directory are
438 overwritten from the skeleton files.
440 When a user's home directory is created, it will by default be a subdirectory of the
442 directory as specified by the
444 option (see below), bearing the name of the new account.
445 This can be overridden by the
447 option on the command line, if desired.
451 directory, from which basic startup and configuration files are copied when
452 the user's home directory is created.
453 This option only has meaning when used with the
459 Set or changes the user's login shell to
461 If the path to the shell program is omitted,
467 and fills it in as appropriate.
468 Note that unless you have a specific reason to do so, you should avoid
469 specifying the path - this will allow
471 to validate that the program exists and is executable.
472 Specifying a full path (or supplying a blank "" shell) avoids this check
473 and allows for such entries as
475 that should be set for accounts not intended for interactive login.
477 This option provides a special interface by which interactive scripts can
478 set an account password using
480 Because the command line and environment are fundamentally insecure mechanisms
481 by which programs can accept information,
483 will only allow setting of account and group passwords via a file descriptor
484 (usually a pipe between an interactive script and the program).
490 all possess mechanisms by which this can be done.
493 will prompt for the user's password if
497 as the file descriptor on which to read the password.
498 Note that this password will be read only once and is intended
499 for use by a script rather than for interactive use.
500 If you wish to have new password confirmation along the lines of
502 this must be implemented as part of an interactive script that calls
507 is given as the argument
509 then the password will be set to
511 rendering the account inaccessible via password-based login.
514 It is possible to use
516 to create a new account that duplicates an existing user id.
517 While this is normally considered an error and will be rejected, the
519 option overrides the check for duplicates and allows the duplication of
521 This may be useful if you allow the same user to login under
522 different contexts (different group allocations, different home
523 directory, different shell) while providing basically the same
524 permissions for access to the user's files in each account.
528 command also has the ability to set new user and group defaults by using the
531 Instead of adding a new user,
533 writes a new set of defaults to its configuration file,
537 option, you must not use either
541 or an error will result.
544 changes the meaning of several command line switches in the
548 .Bl -tag -width "-G grouplist"
550 Set default values in
552 configuration file, or a different named configuration file if the
556 Set the root directory in which user home directories are created.
557 The default value for this is
559 but it may be set elsewhere as desired.
561 Set the default account expiration period in days.
564 the argument must be numeric, which specifies the number of days after creation when
565 the account is to expire.
566 A value of 0 suppresses automatic calculation of the expiry date.
568 Set the default password expiration period in days.
570 Set the default group for new users.
571 If a blank group is specified using
573 then new users will be allocated their own private primary group
574 with the same name as their login name.
575 If a group is supplied, either its name or uid may be given as an argument.
576 .It Fl G Ar grouplist
577 Set the default groups in which new users are granted membership.
578 This is a separate set of groups from the primary group, and you should avoid
579 nominating the same group as both primary and extra groups.
580 In other words, these extra groups determine membership in groups
584 is a comma-separated list of group names or ids, and are always
587 by their symbolic names.
589 This option sets the default login class for new users.
593 directory, from which prototype shell and other initialization files are copied when
595 creates a user's home directory.
597 .Fl u Ar min , Ns Ar max ,
598 .Fl i Ar min , Ns Ar max
600 These options set the minimum and maximum user and group ids allocated for new accounts
601 and groups created by
603 The default values for each is 1000 minimum and 32000 maximum.
607 are both numbers, where max must be greater than min, and both must be between 0
609 In general, user and group ids less than 100 are reserved for use by the system,
610 and numbers greater than 32000 may also be reserved for special purposes (used by
611 some system daemons).
615 option sets the default method used to set passwords for newly created user accounts.
619 .Bl -tag -width random -offset indent -compact
621 disable login on newly created accounts
623 force the password to be the account name
625 force a blank password
627 generate a random password
634 methods are the most secure; in the former case,
636 generates a password and prints it to stdout, which is suitable where you issue
637 users with passwords to access their accounts rather than having the user nominate
638 their own (possibly poorly chosen) password.
641 method requires that the superuser use
643 to render the account accessible with a password.
645 This sets the pathname of the database used by
647 if you are not sharing
649 .Pa /etc/master.passwd
652 You should only set this option for
659 command has only three valid options.
664 options have already been covered above.
665 The additional option is:
666 .Bl -tag -width "-G grouplist"
670 to remove the user's home directory and all of its contents.
673 utility errs on the side of caution when removing files from the system.
674 Firstly, it will not do so if the uid of the account being removed is also used by
675 another account on the system, and the 'home' directory in the password file is
676 a valid path that commences with the character
678 Secondly, it will only remove files and directories that are actually owned by
679 the user, or symbolic links owned by anyone under the user's home directory.
680 Finally, after deleting all contents owned by the user only empty directories
682 If any additional cleanup work is required, this is left to the administrator.
685 Mail spool files and crontabs are always removed when an account is deleted as these
686 are unconditionally attached to the user name.
687 Jobs queued for processing by
689 are also removed if the user's uid is unique and not also used by another account on the
694 command allows viewing of an account in one of two formats.
695 By default, the format is identical to the format used in
696 .Pa /etc/master.passwd
697 with the password field replaced with a
703 outputs the account details in a more human readable form.
706 option is used, the account details are shown in v7 format.
709 option lists all users currently on file.
714 to print the details of an account even if it does not exist.
718 returns the next available user and group ids separated by a colon.
719 This is normally of interest only to interactive scripts or front-ends
727 options (explained at the start of the previous section) are available
728 with the group manipulation commands.
729 Other common options to all group-related commands are:
730 .Bl -tag -width "-m newmembers"
732 Specify the group name.
734 Specify the group numeric id.
736 As with the account name and id fields, you will usually only need
737 to supply one of these, as the group name implies the uid and vice
739 You will only need to use both when setting a specific group id
740 against a new group or when changing the uid of an existing group.
741 .It Fl M Ar memberlist
742 This option provides an alternative way to add existing users to a
743 new group (in groupadd) or replace an existing membership list (in
746 is a comma separated list of valid and existing user names or uids.
747 .It Fl m Ar newmembers
750 this option allows the
752 of existing users to a group without replacing the existing list of
754 Login names or user ids may be used, and duplicate users are
761 option that allows allocation of an existing group id to a new group.
762 The default action is to reject an attempt to add a group, and this option overrides
763 the check for duplicate group ids.
764 There is rarely any need to duplicate a group id.
768 command adds one additional option:
770 .Bl -tag -width "-m newmembers"
772 This option allows changing of an existing group name to
774 The new name must not already exist, and any attempt to duplicate an existing group
775 name will be rejected.
786 to specify the group id.
789 option does not apply to the
795 returns the next available group id on standard output.
800 supports a simple password locking mechanism for users; it works by
801 prepending the string
803 to the beginning of the password field in
805 to prevent successful authentication.
811 commands take a user name or uid of the account to lock or unlock,
817 options as described above are accepted by these commands.
821 utility returns EXIT_SUCCESS on successful operation, otherwise
824 following exit codes defined by
831 Command line syntax errors (invalid keyword, unknown option).
836 Attempting to run one of the update modes as non-root.
841 Memory allocation error.
843 Read error from password file descriptor.
848 Bad or invalid data provided or missing on the command line or
849 via the password file descriptor.
851 Attempted to remove, rename root account or change its uid.
856 Skeleton directory is invalid or does not exist.
858 Base home directory is invalid or does not exist.
860 Invalid or non-existent shell specified.
865 User, user id, group or group id specified does not exist.
867 User or group recorded, added, or modified unexpectedly disappeared.
872 No more group or user ids available within specified range.
877 Unable to rewrite configuration file.
879 Error updating group or user database files.
881 Update error for passwd or group database files.
886 No base home directory configured.
890 For a summary of options available with each command, you can use
891 .Dl pw [command] help
894 lists all available options for the useradd operation.
898 utility allows 8-bit characters in the passwd GECOS field (user's full name,
899 office, work and home phone number subfields), but disallows them in
900 user login and group names.
901 Use 8-bit characters with caution, as connection to the Internet will
902 require that your mail transport program supports 8BITMIME, and will
903 convert headers containing 8-bit characters to 7-bit quoted-printable
907 Use of 8-bit characters in the GECOS field should be used in
908 conjunction with the user's default locale and character set
909 and should not be implemented without their use.
910 Using 8-bit characters may also affect other
911 programs that transmit the contents of the GECOS field over the
914 and a small number of TCP/IP clients, such as IRC, where full names
915 specified in the passwd file may be used by default.
919 utility writes a log to the
921 file when actions such as user or group additions or deletions occur.
922 The location of this logfile can be changed in
925 .Bl -tag -width /etc/master.passwd.new -compact
926 .It Pa /etc/master.passwd
929 A Version 7 format password file
930 .It Pa /etc/login.conf
931 The user capabilities database
934 .It Pa /etc/master.passwd.new
935 Temporary copy of the master password file
936 .It Pa /etc/passwd.new
937 Temporary copy of the Version 7 password file
938 .It Pa /etc/group.new
939 Temporary copy of the group file
941 Pw default options file
942 .It Pa /var/log/userlog
943 User/group modification logfile
957 utility was written to mimic many of the options used in the SYSV
959 support suite, but is modified for passwd and group fields specific to
962 operating system, and combines all of the major elements
963 into a single command.
mneumann's projects / dragonfly.git / blob