1PWCK(8)                   System Management Commands                   PWCK(8)
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NAME

6       pwck - verify integrity of password files
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SYNOPSIS

9       pwck [-q] [-s] [passwd shadow]
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11       pwck [-q] [-r] [passwd shadow]
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DESCRIPTION

14       pwck verifies the integrity of the system authentication information.
15       All entries in the /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow are checked to see that
16       the entry has the proper format and valid data in each field. The user
17       is prompted to delete entries that are improperly formatted or which
18       have other uncorrectable errors.
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20       Checks are made to verify that each entry has:
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22       ·  the correct number of fields
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24       ·  a unique user name
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26       ·  a valid user and group identifier
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28       ·  a valid primary group
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30       ·  a valid home directory
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32       ·  a valid login shell
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35The checks for correct number of fields and unique user name are fatal. If the
36entry has the wrong number of fields, the user will be prompted to delete the
37entire line. If the user does not answer affirmatively, all further checks are
38bypassed. An entry with a duplicated user name is prompted for deletion, but
39the remaining checks will still be made. All other errors are warning and the
40user is encouraged to run the usermod command to correct the error.
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42The commands which operate on the /etc/passwd file are not able to alter
43corrupted or duplicated entries.  pwck should be used in those circumstances
44to remove the offending entry.
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OPTIONS

47       The options which apply to the pwck command are:
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49       -q Report errors only. The warnings which do not require any action
50          from the user won't be displayed.
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52       -r Execute the pwck command in read-only mode.
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54       -s Sort entries in /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow by UID.
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56       By default, pwck operates on the files /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow. The
57       user may select alternate files with the passwd and shadow parameters.
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FILES

60       /etc/group
61          Group account information.
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63       /etc/passwd
64          User account information.
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66       /etc/shadow
67          Secure user account information.
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SEE ALSO

70       group(5), passwd(5), shadow(5), usermod(8).
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EXIT VALUES

73       The pwck command exits with the following values:
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75       0  success
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77       1  invalid command syntax
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79       2  one or more bad password entries
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81       3  can't open password files
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83       4  can't lock password files
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85       5  can't update password files
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90System Management Commands        07/30/2006                           PWCK(8)