Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 13:54:57 -0500 (EST) From: Lowell Gilbert <lowell@world.std.com> To: FreeBSD-gnats-submit@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: docs/8765: doc suggestion re:passwords Message-ID: <199811191854.NAA03129@heart-of-gold.ironbridgenetworks.com>
index | next in thread | raw e-mail
>Number: 8765 >Category: docs >Synopsis: some suggested text for describing passwords >Confidential: no >Severity: non-critical >Priority: low >Responsible: freebsd-doc >State: open >Quarter: >Keywords: >Date-Required: >Class: change-request >Submitter-Id: current-users >Arrival-Date: Thu Nov 19 11:00:00 PST 1998 >Last-Modified: >Originator: Lowell Gilbert >Organization: >Release: FreeBSD 2.2.7-STABLE i386 >Environment: >Description: Newcomers to FreeBSD are often confused about how passwords work. I wrote up the enclosed text in response to a freebsd-questions request for how to install shadow passwords. I think it belongs in the handbook as opposed to the FAQ, but it does answer some questions that *are* asked frequently. >How-To-Repeat: >Fix: Passwords 1. How do passwords work? FreeBSD uses a "shadow password" system. There is an /etc/passwd file, as UNIX systems have always had, but it doesn't contain the actual passwords. Those are kept in /etc/master.passwd (and in a hashed database /etc/spwd.db). 2. So how do I change my password? With the 'passwd' command. 3. Editing password files Password files have more in them than just passwords. As an ordinary user, the 'chpass' command should be all you need as far as changing your entry, but for system administration purposes you need a lot more. Do *not* just edit the password files themselves. The easiest way to make your modifications is to use the 'vipw' command, which will bring up the password file in an editor, and automatically build the databases for you when you're done editing. If you *do* edit the master.passwd file directly, make sure to run the pwd_mkdb program on it afterwards. 4. Other topics [Not covered here, and probably shouldn't be: NIS, Kerberos, login.conf...] 5. More Reading To administrate a system, you really ought to read the following manual pages: passwd(1) : actually, *everyone* ought to read this chpass(1) : lets users change some other information as well as the password vipw(8) : edit the password file passwd(5) : format of the password file. Includes information on how to deal with NIS passwords (if you don't know what those are, you don't need to). login.conf(5) : login class capability database pwd_mkdb(8) : generate the password databases >Audit-Trail: >Unformatted: To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-doc" in the body of the messagehelp
Want to link to this message? Use this
URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?199811191854.NAA03129>