UPDATE-PASSWD(8) System Manager's Manual UPDATE-PASSWD(8)
NAME
update-passwd - safely update /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow and /etc/group
SYNOPSIS
update-passwd [options]
DESCRIPTION
update-passwd handles updates of /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow and /etc/group
on running Debian systems. It compares the current files to master
copies, distributed in the base-passwd package, and updates all entries
in the global system range (that is, 0–99). It leaves backup copies of
the previous versions of modified files with the extension ‘.org’ (for
“original”).
OPTIONS
update-passwd follows the usual GNU command line syntax, with long op-
tions starting with two dashes (‘-’).
-p, --passwd-master=FILE
Use FILE as the master copy of the passwd database. The default
value is /usr/share/base-passwd/passwd.master.
-g, --group-master=FILE
Use FILE as the master copy of the group database. The default
value is /usr/share/base-passwd/group.master.
-P, --passwd=FILE
Use FILE as the system passwd database. The default value is
/etc/passwd.
-S, --shadow=FILE
Use FILE as the system shadow database. The default value is
/etc/shadow.
-G, --group=FILE
Use FILE as the system group database. The default value is
/etc/group.
-s, --sanity-check
Only perform sanity-checks but don't do anything.
-v, --verbose
Give detailed information about what we are doing. A second -v
gives additional detail.
-n, --dry-run
Don't do anything but only show what we would do.
-L, --no-locking
Don't attempt to lock the account database. This should only be
used for debugging purposes. I repeat: do not do this unless you
are really sure you need this!
-h, --help
Show a summary of how to use update-passwd.
-V, --version
Show the version number
ENVIRONMENT
DEBIAN_HAS_FRONTEND
If this environment variable is set and the --dry-run flag was
not given, update-passwd uses debconf to prompt for whether to
make changes. Each proposed change will produce a separate
prompt. User or group removals, UID or GID changes, and home di-
rectory changes will be asked with high priority. User or group
additions and shell changes will be asked with medium priority.
Questions about whether to move entries above the NIS compat in-
clusion entry or whether to change the GECOS of a user are asked
at low priority.
BUGS
At this moment update-passwd does not verify the shadow-file. It should
check if the entries in the passwd are also in shadow and vice versa,
and that passwords are not present in both files.
AUTHOR
Wichert Akkerman <wakkerma@debian.org>
This program was written for the Debian project, and is copyright
1999–2002 Wichert Akkerman and copyright 2002, 2003 Colin Watson. It is
distributed under version 2 of the GNU General Public License.
DEBIAN Debian tools UPDATE-PASSWD(8)
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