shadow/man/gshadow.5.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!--
   Copyright (c) 2005 - 2008, Nicolas François
   All rights reserved.
  
   Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
   modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
   are met:
   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. The name of the copyright holders or contributors may not be used to
      endorse or promote products derived from this software without
      specific prior written permission.
  
   THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS 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 COPYRIGHT
   HOLDERS 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 SUCH DAMAGE.
-->
<refentry id='gshadow.5'>
  <!-- $Id$ -->
  <refmeta>
    <refentrytitle>gshadow</refentrytitle>
    <manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
    <refmiscinfo class="sectdesc">File Formats and Conversions</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 an 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 a 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>