shadow/man/gshadow.5.xml

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<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V4.5//EN"
  "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd" [
<!-- SHADOW-CONFIG-HERE -->
]>
<refentry id='gshadow.5'>
  <!-- $Id$ -->
  <refentryinfo>
    <author>
      <firstname>Nicolas</firstname>
      <surname>François</surname>
      <email>nicolas.francois@centraliens.net</email>
      <contrib>Creation, 2005</contrib>
      <contrib>shadow-utils maintainer, 2007 - now</contrib>
    </author>
  </refentryinfo>
  <refmeta>
    <refentrytitle>gshadow</refentrytitle>
    <manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
    <refmiscinfo class="sectdesc">File Formats and Configuration Files</refmiscinfo>
    <refmiscinfo class="source">shadow-utils</refmiscinfo>
    <refmiscinfo class="version">&SHADOW_UTILS_VERSION;</refmiscinfo>
  </refmeta>
  <refnamediv id='name'>
    <refname>gshadow</refname>
    <refpurpose>shadowed group file</refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>

  <refsect1 id='description'>
    <title>DESCRIPTION</title>
    <para>
      <filename>/etc/gshadow</filename> contains the shadowed information
      for group accounts.
    </para>

    <para>
      This file must not be readable by regular users if password security
      is to be maintained.
    </para>

    <para>
      Each line of this file contains the following colon-separated
      fields:
    </para>
    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
	<term><emphasis role="bold">group name</emphasis></term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    It must be a valid group name, which exist on the system.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
	<term><emphasis role="bold">encrypted password</emphasis></term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    Refer to <citerefentry><refentrytitle>crypt</refentrytitle>
	    <manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry> for details on how
	    this string is interpreted.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    If the password field contains some string that is not a valid
	    result of <citerefentry><refentrytitle>crypt</refentrytitle>
	    <manvolnum>3</manvolnum></citerefentry>, for instance ! or *,
	    users will not be able to use a unix password to access the
	    group (but group members do not need the password).
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    The password is used when a user who is not a member of the
	    group wants to gain the permissions of this group (see
	    <citerefentry><refentrytitle>newgrp</refentrytitle>
	    <manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>).
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    This field may be empty, in which case only the group members
	    can gain the group permissions.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    A password field which starts with an exclamation mark means
	    that the password is locked.  The remaining characters on the
	    line represent the password field before the password was
	    locked.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    This password supersedes any password specified in
	    <filename>/etc/group</filename>.
	  </para>

	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
	<term><emphasis role="bold">administrators</emphasis></term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    It must be a comma-separated list of user names.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    Administrators can change the password or the members of the
	    group.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    Administrators also have the same permissions as the members
	    (see below).
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
	<term><emphasis role="bold">members</emphasis></term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>
	    It must be a comma-separated list of user names.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    Members can access the group without being prompted for a
	    password.
	  </para>
	  <para>
	    You should use the same list of users as in
	    <filename>/etc/group</filename>.
	  </para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id='files'>
    <title>FILES</title>
    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
	<term><filename>/etc/group</filename></term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>Group account information.</para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>
      <varlistentry>
	<term><filename>/etc/gshadow</filename></term>
	<listitem>
	  <para>Secure group account information.</para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1 id='see_also'>
    <title>SEE ALSO</title>
    <para>
      <citerefentry>
	<refentrytitle>gpasswd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry>
	<refentrytitle>group</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry>
	<refentrytitle>grpck</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry>
	<refentrytitle>grpconv</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry>
	<refentrytitle>newgrp</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
      </citerefentry>.
    </para>
  </refsect1>
</refentry>