vipw(8) — UTek W2.3



VIPW(8)                 COMMAND REFERENCE                 VIPW(8)



NAME
     vipw, pwck - edit and/or check the password file

SYNOPSIS
     vipw [ -c [ filename ... ] ]
     pwck [ -c ] [ filename ... ]

DESCRIPTION
     With no arguments, vipw locks the file /etc/passwd, copies
     its contents to a temporary file, and invokes the editor
     (default = vi) on the temporary file.  After the editor is
     exited, the modified data is checked as described below.  If
     no problems are found, the temporary file replaces the old
     password file, which is unlocked.  If only problems in the
     Warning category are found, the user may re-edit the file,
     quit without updating, or update the password file, ignoring
     the warnings.  If any problems in the ERROR category are
     found, the user may re-edit the file or quit without
     updating.

     If called as pwck or with the -c option, vipw will check the
     named files as described below.  If no names are given,
     /etc/passwd is checked.

     File Checking
     The following problems are considered Warnings.  When they
     occur, a message is printed giving the line number and a
     description of the problem.



     1    User name longer than 8 characters

     2    User name begins with non-alphabetic character

     3    User name contains characters other than a-z, A-Z, 0-9,
          -, and _

     4    The home directory does not exist or is not a directory

     These problems are considered ERRORs.  When they occur, a
     message is printed giving the line number and a description
     of the problem.



     1    Not enough fields.

     2    Too many fields.

     3    Entry longer than 1024 characters.




Printed 10/17/86                                                1



VIPW(8)                 COMMAND REFERENCE                 VIPW(8)



     4    Non-numeric or empty user id field.

     5    Non-numeric or empty group id field.

     6    The shell program does not exist or is not executable.

OPTIONS
     -c                       Check the named files (default is
                              /etc/passwd).  Do not edit the
                              password file.

FILES
     /etc/passwd              The password file to edit or the
                              default file to check.

     /etc/ptmp                The temporary edit file.

VARIABLES
     EDIT           The editor to be used instead of vi.

RETURN VALUE
     [NO_ERRS]      Command completed without error.

     [USAGE]        Incorrect command line syntax. Execution
                    terminated.

     [1]            The file(s) contained errors.

     [NP_WARN]      An error warranting a warning message
                    occurred. Execution continues.

     [NP_ERR]       An error occurred that was not a system
                    error.  Execution terminated.

     [P_WARN]       A system error occurred. Execution continues.
                    See intro(2) for more information on system
                    errors.

     [P_ERR]        A system error occurred. Execution
                    terminated.  See intro(2) for more
                    information on system errors.

CAVEATS
     Vipw can only be used by root to edit the password file (
     any user can use pwck and vipw with the -c option).  Its use
     should be restricted to major modifications and corrections.
     Make normal changes with chfn(1), chsh(1), passwd(1), and
     other utilities.

     The earlier versions of this utility were shell scripts.  It
     is imperative that the earlier versions not be used in this
     system.  Locking is now handled by the kernel, whereas the



Printed 10/17/86                                                2



VIPW(8)                 COMMAND REFERENCE                 VIPW(8)



     shell scripts used a lock file.

SEE ALSO
     chfn(1), chsh(1), passwd(1), passwd(5),



















































Printed 10/17/86                                                3

%%index%%
na:72,84;
sy:156,230;
de:386,1835;2365,161;
op:2526,251;
fi:2777,241;
va:3018,134;
rv:3152,843;
ca:3995,650;4789,38;
se:4827,192;
%%index%%000000000163

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