Where User Account and Group Information Is Stored

Depending on your site policy, user account and group information can be stored in your local system's /etc files or in a name or directory service as follows:

• The NIS+ name service information is stored in tables.

• The NIS name service information is stored in maps.

• The LDAP directory service information is stored in indexed database files.

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Note - To avoid confusion, the location of the user account and group information is generically referred to as a file rather than as a database, table, or map.

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Most user account information is stored in the passwd file. Password information is stored as follows:

• In the passwd file when you are using NIS or NIS+

• In the /etc/shadow file when you are using /etc files

• In the people container when you are using LDAP

Password aging is available when you are using NIS+ or LDAP, but not NIS.

Group information is stored in the group file for NIS, NIS+ and files. For LDAP, group information is stored in the group container.

Fields in the passwd File

The fields in the passwd file are separated by colons and contain the following information:

username:password:uid:gid:comment:home-directory:login-shell

For example:

kryten:x:101:100:Kryten Series 4000 Mechanoid:/export/home/kryten:/bin/csh

For a complete description of the fields in the passwd file, see the passwd(1) man page.

Default passwd File

The default Solaris passwd file contains entries for standard daemons. Daemons are processes that are usually started at boot time to perform some system-wide task, such as printing, network administration, or port monitoring.

root:x:0:1:Super-User:/:/sbin/sh
daemon:x:1:1::/:
bin:x:2:2::/usr/bin:
sys:x:3:3::/:
adm:x:4:4:Admin:/var/adm:
lp:x:71:8:Line Printer Admin:/usr/spool/lp:
uucp:x:5:5:uucp Admin:/usr/lib/uucp:
nuucp:x:9:9:uucp Admin:/var/spool/uucppublic:/usr/lib/uucp/uucico
smmsp:x:25:25:SendMail Message Submission Program:/:
listen:x:37:4:Network Admin:/usr/net/nls:
gdm:x:50:50:GDM Reserved UID:/:
webservd:x:80:80:WebServer Reserved UID:/:
nobody:x:60001:60001:NFS Anonymous Access User:/:
noaccess:x:60002:60002:No Access User:/:
nobody4:x:65534:65534:SunOS 4.x NFS Anonymous Access User:/:

Table 4-5 Default passwd File Entries

User Name	User ID	Description
root	0	Superuser account
daemon	1	Umbrella system daemon associated with routine system tasks
bin	2	Administrative daemon associated with running system binaries to perform some routine system task
sys	3	Administrative daemon associated with system logging or updating files in temporary directories
adm	4	Administrative daemon associated with system logging
lp	71	Line printer daemon
uucp	5	Daemon associated with uucp functions
nuucp	6	Another daemon associated with uucp functions
smmsp	25	Sendmail message submission program daemon
webservd	80	Account reserved for WebServer access
gdm	50	GNOME Display Manager daemon
listen	37	Network listener daemon
nobody	60001	Account reserved for anonymous NFS access.
noaccess	60002	Assigned to a user or a process that needs access to a system through some application but without actually logging in.
nobody4	65534	SunOS 4.0 or 4.1 version of the nobody user account

Fields in the shadow File

The fields in the shadow file are separated by colons and contain the following information:

username:password:lastchg:min:max:warn:inactive:expire

For example:

rimmer:86Kg/MNT/dGu.:8882:0::5:20:8978

For a complete description of the fields in the shadow file, see the shadow(4) and crypt(1) man pages.

Fields in the group File

The fields in the group file are separated by colons and contain the following information:

group-name:group-password:gid:user-list

For example:

bin::2:root,bin,daemon

For a complete description of the fields in the group file, see the group(4) man page.

Default group File

The default Solaris group file contains the following system groups that support some system-wide task, such as printing, network administration, or electronic mail. Many of these groups having corresponding entries in the passwd file.

root::0:
other::1:
bin::2:root,daemon
sys::3:root,bin,adm
adm::4:root,daemon
uucp::5:root
mail::6:root
tty::7:root,adm
lp::8:root,adm
nuucp::9:root
staff::10:
daemon::12:root
smmsp::25:
sysadmin::14:
gdm::50:
webservd::80:
nobody::60001:
noaccess::60002:
nogroup::65534:

Table 4-6 Default group File Entries

Group Name	Group ID	Description
root	0	Superuser group
other	1	Optional group
bin	2	Administrative group associated with running system binaries
sys	3	Administrative group associated with system logging or temporary directories
adm	4	Administrative group associated with system logging
uucp	5	Group associated with uucp functions
mail	6	Electronic mail group
tty	7	Group associated with tty devices
lp	8	Line printer group
nuucp	9	Group associated with uucp functions
staff	10	General administrative group.
daemon	12	Group associated with routine system tasks
sysadmin	14	Administrative group associated with legacy Admintool and Solstice AdminSuite tools
smmsp	25	Daemon for Sendmail message submission program
webservd	80	Group reserved for WebServer access
gdm	50	Group reserved for the GNOME Display Manager daemon
nobody	60001	Group assigned for anonymous NFS access
noaccess	60002	Group assigned to a user or a process that needs access to a system through some application but without actually logging in
nogroup	65534	Group assigned to a user who is not a member of a known group