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Date:      Wed, 03 Nov 1999 00:31:54 +0000
From:      Joseph Scott <joseph.scott@owp.csus.edu>
To:        John <papalia@UDel.Edu>
Cc:        freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: /nonexistent vs. /sbin/nologin
Message-ID:  <381F827A.F42A3BA9@owp.csus.edu>
References:  <4.1.19991101232918.00943730@mail.udel.edu>

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John wrote:
> 
> Hey all...
> 
> I was fiddling trying to set up a new user name for samba (per an
> instructional PDF which was posted a while back.. worked GREAT, btw).  They
> mention that the generic samba user (for "public" access) should be set up
> so as to not permit logins.  In order to change the login, I figured that
> vipw would be the best way. When i went into vipw though, I noticed that
> both "/nonexistent" and "/sbin/nologin" exist.  What is the difference
> between those? And also, which is considered more secure?

	/nonexistent is refering to the users home directory, where
/sbin/nologin is refering to the users shell.  There isn't a comparison
to make, they don't server the same purpose.

	For more info on the format of the password file look at passwd(5) man
page.  At the shell prompt this would be :

someshell> man 5 passwd


-- 

Joseph Scott
joseph.scott@owp.csus.edu
Office Of Water Programs - CSU Sacramento


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