getpw(3) - f35

1GETPW(3)                   Linux Programmer's Manual                  GETPW(3)
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NAME

6       getpw - reconstruct password line entry
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SYNOPSIS

9       #define _GNU_SOURCE             /* See feature_test_macros(7) */
10       #include <sys/types.h>
11       #include <pwd.h>
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13       int getpw(uid_t uid, char *buf);
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DESCRIPTION

16       The getpw() function reconstructs the password line entry for the given
17       user ID uid in the buffer buf.  The returned buffer contains a line  of
18       format
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20           name:passwd:uid:gid:gecos:dir:shell
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22       The passwd structure is defined in <pwd.h> as follows:
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24           struct passwd {
25               char   *pw_name;       /* username */
26               char   *pw_passwd;     /* user password */
27               uid_t   pw_uid;        /* user ID */
28               gid_t   pw_gid;        /* group ID */
29               char   *pw_gecos;      /* user information */
30               char   *pw_dir;        /* home directory */
31               char   *pw_shell;      /* shell program */
32           };
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34       For more information about the fields of this structure, see passwd(5).
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RETURN VALUE

37       The getpw() function returns 0 on success; on error, it returns -1, and
38       errno is set to indicate the error.
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40       If uid is not found in the password database, getpw() returns -1,  sets
41       errno to 0, and leaves buf unchanged.
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ERRORS

44       0 or ENOENT
45              No user corresponding to uid.
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47       EINVAL buf is NULL.
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49       ENOMEM Insufficient memory to allocate passwd structure.
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FILES

52       /etc/passwd
53              password database file
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ATTRIBUTES

56       For  an  explanation  of  the  terms  used  in  this  section,  see at‐
57       tributes(7).
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59       ┌─────────────────────────────────────┬───────────────┬────────────────┐
60       │Interface                            │ Attribute     │ Value          │
61       ├─────────────────────────────────────┼───────────────┼────────────────┤
62       │getpw()                              │ Thread safety │ MT-Safe locale │
63       └─────────────────────────────────────┴───────────────┴────────────────┘
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CONFORMING TO

66       SVr2.
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BUGS

69       The getpw() function is dangerous as it may overflow the provided  buf‐
70       fer buf.  It is obsoleted by getpwuid(3).
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COLOPHON

77       This page is part of release 5.12 of the Linux  man-pages  project.   A
78       description  of  the project, information about reporting bugs, and the
79       latest    version    of    this    page,    can     be     found     at
80       https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.
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84GNU                               2021-03-22                          GETPW(3)