<?xml version="1.0"?> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"/><title>userdb</title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.76.1"/><link rel="home" href="#userdb" title="userdb"/><link xmlns="" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="manpage.css"/><meta xmlns="" name="MSSmartTagsPreventParsing" content="TRUE"/><link xmlns="" rel="icon" href="icon.gif" type="image/gif"/><!-- Copyright 1998 - 2009 Double Precision, Inc. See COPYING for distribution information. --></head><body><div class="refentry" title="userdb"><a id="userdb" shape="rect"> </a><div class="titlepage"/><div class="refnamediv"><h2>Name</h2><p>userdb — manipulate /etc/userdb</p></div><div class="refsynopsisdiv" title="Synopsis"><h2>Synopsis</h2><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">userdb</code> {<em class="replaceable"><code>addr</code></em>} set {<em class="replaceable"><code>field</code></em>=<em class="replaceable"><code>value</code></em>...}</p></div><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">userdb</code> {<em class="replaceable"><code>addr</code></em>} unset {<em class="replaceable"><code>field</code></em>...}</p></div><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">userdb</code> {<em class="replaceable"><code>addr</code></em>} del </p></div><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">userdb</code> {<em class="replaceable"><code>path/addr</code></em>} [ set | unset | del ] ... </p></div><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">userdb</code> -f {<em class="replaceable"><code>file</code></em>} {<em class="replaceable"><code>adr</code></em>} [ set | unset | del ] ... </p></div><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">userdb</code> -show {<em class="replaceable"><code>path</code></em>}</p></div><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">userdb</code> -show {<em class="replaceable"><code>path</code></em>} {<em class="replaceable"><code>addr</code></em>}</p></div><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">userdb</code> -show -f {<em class="replaceable"><code>file</code></em>}</p></div><div class="cmdsynopsis"><p><code class="command">userdb</code> -show -f {<em class="replaceable"><code>file</code></em>} {<em class="replaceable"><code>addr</code></em>}</p></div></div><div class="refsect1" title="DESCRIPTION"><a id="id477095" shape="rect"> </a><h2>DESCRIPTION</h2><p> <span class="command"><strong>userdb</strong></span> is a convenient script to individually manipulate entries in <code class="filename">/etc/userdb</code>. See <a class="ulink" href="makeuserdb.html" target="_top" shape="rect"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">makeuserdb</span>(8)</span></a> for a description of its contents. <code class="filename">/etc/userdb</code> can always be edited using any text editor, but <span class="command"><strong>userdb</strong></span> is a convenient way to modify this file from another script.</p><p> <code class="filename">/etc/userdb</code> can also be a subdirectory, instead of a file. Specify <code class="option"><em class="replaceable"><code>foo/bar/addr</code></em></code> to manipulate <code class="option"><em class="replaceable"><code>addr</code></em></code> in the file <code class="filename">/etc/userdb<em class="replaceable"><code>/foo/bar</code></em></code>. You can also use the <code class="option">-f</code> flag: <code class="option">-f <em class="replaceable"><code>/etc/userdb/foo/bar</code></em></code> is equivalent. Use whatever form makes the most sense to you.</p><p> <code class="filename">/etc/userdb</code> must not have any group or world permissions. That's because its contents may include system passwords (depending upon the application which uses this virtual user account database).</p><p> Each line in <code class="filename">/etc/userdb</code> takes following form:</p><div class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote"><code class="computeroutput"> <em class="replaceable"><code>addr</code></em><span class="token"><TAB></span><em class="replaceable"><code>field</code></em>=<em class="replaceable"><code>value</code></em>|<em class="replaceable"><code>field</code></em>=<em class="replaceable"><code>value</code></em>... </code></blockquote></div><p> <em class="replaceable"><code>addr</code></em> specifies a unique virtual address. It is followed by a single tab character, then a list of <em class="replaceable"><code>field</code></em>=<em class="replaceable"><code>value</code></em> pairs, separated by vertical slash characters. See <a class="ulink" href="makeuserdb.html" target="_top" shape="rect"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">makeuserdb</span>(8)</span></a> for field definitions.</p><p> A text editor can be used to add blank lines or comments in <code class="filename">/etc/userdb</code>. Any blank lines or comments are ignored by the <span class="command"><strong>userdb</strong></span> script.</p><p> The names of the actual fields, and their contents, are defined entirely by applications that use the <code class="filename">/etc/userdb</code> database, the <span class="command"><strong>userdb</strong></span> command just adds or removes arbitrary fields.</p><p> For example:</p><div class="blockquote"><blockquote class="blockquote"><div class="informalexample"><div class="literallayout"><p><span class="command"><strong>userdb default/info set mail=/home/mail/info</strong></span></p></div></div></blockquote></div><p> This command accesses the address "info" in <code class="filename">/etc/userdb/default</code>.</p><p> If the second argument to <span class="command"><strong>userdb</strong></span> is "<em class="parameter"><code>set</code></em>", the remaining arguments are taken as <em class="parameter"><code><em class="replaceable"><code>field</code></em>=<em class="replaceable"><code>value</code></em></code></em> pairs, which are added to the record for <em class="replaceable"><code>addr</code></em>. If there is no record for <em class="replaceable"><code>addr</code></em>, a new record will be appended to the file. If <em class="replaceable"><code>addr</code></em> exists, any existing values of any specified fields are removed. If <em class="parameter"><code>=<em class="replaceable"><code>value</code></em></code></em> is missing, <span class="command"><strong>userdb</strong></span> stops and prompts for it. This is useful if you're setting a password field, where you do not want to specify the password on the command line, which can be seen by the <span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">ps</span>(1)</span> command. If <span class="command"><strong>userdb</strong></span> is being executed by a script, the value can be provided on standard input.</p><p>Use "<em class="parameter"><code>unset</code></em>" to delete fields from an existing record. Use "<em class="parameter"><code>del</code></em>" to delete all fields in the existing record, plus the record itself.</p><div class="refsect2" title="DISPLAYING /etc/userdb"><a id="id521644" shape="rect"> </a><h3>DISPLAYING <code class="filename">/etc/userdb</code></h3><p> If the first argument to userdb is <em class="parameter"><code>-show</code></em>, <span class="command"><strong>userdb</strong></span> displays the contents of <code class="filename">/etc/userdb</code>. If <code class="filename">/etc/userdb</code> is a subdirectory, <em class="parameter"><code><em class="replaceable"><code>path</code></em></code></em> must refer to a specific file in <code class="filename">/etc/userdb</code>. The <em class="parameter"><code>-f</code></em> option can be used instead of <em class="parameter"><code><em class="replaceable"><code>path</code></em></code></em> in order to specify an arbitrary file.</p><p> If <em class="parameter"><code><em class="replaceable"><code>addr</code></em></code></em> is not specified, <span class="command"><strong>userdb</strong></span> produces a list, on standard output, containing all addresses found in the file, on per line. If <em class="parameter"><code><em class="replaceable"><code>addr</code></em></code></em> is specified, <span class="command"><strong>userdb</strong></span> produces a list, on standard output, of all the fields in <code class="filename">/etc/userdb</code> for this <em class="parameter"><code><em class="replaceable"><code>addr</code></em></code></em>.</p></div><div class="refsect2" title="REBUILDING /etc/userdb.dat"><a id="id521739" shape="rect"> </a><h3>REBUILDING <code class="filename">/etc/userdb.dat</code></h3><p> The actual virtual account/address database is <code class="filename">/etc/userdb.dat</code>. This is a binary database file. <span class="command"><strong>/etc/userdb</strong></span> is the plain text version. After running <span class="command"><strong>userdb</strong></span>, execute the <a class="ulink" href="makeuserdb.html" target="_top" shape="rect"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">makeuserdb</span>(8)</span></a> command to rebuild <code class="filename">/etc/userdb.dat</code> for the changes to take effect.</p></div></div><div class="refsect1" title="BUGS"><a id="id521784" shape="rect"> </a><h2>BUGS</h2><p> <em class="parameter"><code><em class="replaceable"><code>addr</code></em></code></em> must be unique. If <code class="filename">/etc/userdb</code> is a subdirectory, it's possible to create the same <em class="parameter"><code><em class="replaceable"><code>addr</code></em></code></em> in different files in the subdirectory. This is an error that is not currently detected by <span class="command"><strong>userdb</strong></span>, however the subsequent <a class="ulink" href="makeuserdb.html" target="_top" shape="rect"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">makeuserdb</span>(8)</span></a> command will fail with an error message.</p></div><div class="refsect1" title="FILES"><a id="id521827" shape="rect"> </a><h2>FILES</h2><p> <code class="filename"> /etc/userdb</code> - plain text file, or directory of plain text files</p><p> <code class="filename"> .lock.filename</code> - lock file for <code class="filename">filename</code></p><p> <code class="filename"> .tmp.filename</code> - temporary file used to create new contents of <code class="filename">filename</code></p></div><div class="refsect1" title="SEE ALSO"><a id="id521867" shape="rect"> </a><h2>SEE ALSO</h2><p> <a class="ulink" href="makeuserdb.html" target="_top" shape="rect"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">makeuserdb</span>(8)</span></a>, <a class="ulink" href="userdbpw.html" target="_top" shape="rect"><span class="citerefentry"><span class="refentrytitle">userdbpw</span>(8)</span></a></p></div></div></body></html>