.\" Copyright (c) 1991 The Regents of the University of California.
.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
.\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
.\" 3. All advertising materials mentioning features or use of this software
.\" must display the following acknowledgement:
.\" This product includes software developed by the University of
.\" California, Berkeley and its contributors.
.\" 4. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
.\" may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
.\" without specific prior written permission.
.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
.\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
.\" @(#)pwd_mkdb.8 5.3 (Berkeley) 6/29/91
.TH PWD_MKDB 8 "June 29, 1991
pwd_mkdb \- generate the password databases
pwd_mkdb [ \-p ] [ \-d directory ] file
style secure and insecure databases for the specified file.
These databases are then installed into ``/etc/spwd.db'' and
``/etc/pwd.db'' respectively.
The file is installed into ``/etc/master.passwd''.
The file must be in the correct format (see
It is important to note that the format used in this system is
different from the historic Version 7 style format.
The options are as follows:
Create a Version 7 style password file and install it into ``/etc/password''.
Store databases into specified destination directory instead of ``/etc''.
The two databases differ in that the secure version contains the user's
encrypted password and the insecure version has an asterisk (``*'')
The databases are used by the C library password routines (see
exits zero on success, non-zero on failure.
/var/db/pwd.db The insecure password database file
/var/db/pwd.db.tmp A temporary file
/var/db/spwd.db The secure password database file
/var/db/spwd.db.tmp A temporary file
/etc/master.passwd The current password file
/etc/passwd A Version 7 format password file
Because of the necessity for atomic update of the password files,
This, however, requires that the file specified on the command line live
on the same file system as the ``/etc'' directory.
There are the obvious races with multiple people running
on different password files at the same time.
handle the locking necessary to avoid this problem.
Standard database make routines are slow especially for big passwd
You can have much faster routines, but loose binary compatibility
with previous versions and with other BSD-like systems.
If you want to setup much faster routines, define
envirnoment variable (f.e. 'setenv PW_COMPACT' in csh) and use
target into /usr/src/Makefile.
If you will want to return this changes back, use the same target
Previous versions of the system had a program similar to
style databases for the password file but depended on the calling programs
The program was renamed in order that previous users of the program
not be surprised by the changes in functionality.
chpass(1), passwd(1), db(3), getpwent(3), passwd(5), vipw(8)