DESCRIPTION

     pwd_mkdb creates db(3) style secure and insecure databases for the speci-
     fied file.  These databases are then installed into /etc/spwd.db and
     /etc/pwd.db, respectively.  The file is installed into
     /etc/master.passwd.  The file must be in the correct format (see
     passwd(5)).  It is important to note that the format used in this system
     is different from the historic Version 7 style format.

     The options are as follows:

     -c      Check if the password file is in the correct format.  Do not
             change, add, or remove any files.

     -p      Create a Version 7 style password file and install it into
             /etc/passwd.

     -s      Only update the secure version of the database.  This is most
             commonly used in conjunction with the -u flag during a password
             change.  Because the insecure database doesn't contain the pass-
             word there is no reason to update it if the only change is in the
             password field.  Cannot be used in conjunction with the -p flag.

     -d directory
             Operate in a base directory other than the default of /etc.  All
             absolute paths (including file) will be made relative to
             directory.  Any directories specified as a part of file will be
             stripped off.  This option is used to create password databases
             in directories other than etc; for instance in a chroot(8) jail.

     -u username
             Only update the record for the specified user.  Utilities that
             operate on a single user can use this option to avoid the over-
             head of rebuilding the entire database.  This option must never
             be used if the line number of the user's record in
             /etc/master.passwd has changed.

     file    The absolute path to a file in master.passwd format, as described
             in passwd(5).

     The two databases differ in that the secure version contains the user's
     encrypted password and the insecure version has an asterisk (`*').

     The databases are used by the C library password routines (see
     getpwent(3)).

     pwd_mkdb exits zero on success, non-zero on failure.

FILES

     /etc/master.passwd  current password file
     /etc/passwd         a Version 7 format password file
     /etc/pwd.db         insecure password database file

BUGS

     Because of the necessity for atomic update of the password files,
     pwd_mkdb uses rename(2) to install them.  This, however, requires that
     the file specified on the command line live on the same file system as
     the /etc directory.

     There are the obvious races with multiple people running pwd_mkdb on dif-
     ferent password files at the same time.  The front-ends to pwd_mkdb,
     chpass(1), passwd(1), and vipw(8) handle the locking necessary to avoid
     this problem.

BSD                              June 6, 1993                              BSD