:mod:`pwd` --- The password database
====================================
.. module:: pwd
:platform: Unix
:synopsis: The password database (getpwnam() and friends).
--------------
This module provides access to the Unix user account and password database. It
is available on all Unix versions.
.. include:: ../includes/wasm-notavail.rst
Password database entries are reported as a tuple-like object, whose attributes
correspond to the members of the ``passwd`` structure (Attribute field below,
see ``<pwd.h>``):
+-------+---------------+-----------------------------+
| Index | Attribute | Meaning |
+=======+===============+=============================+
| 0 | ``pw_name`` | Login name |
+-------+---------------+-----------------------------+
| 1 | ``pw_passwd`` | Optional encrypted password |
+-------+---------------+-----------------------------+
| 2 | ``pw_uid`` | Numerical user ID |
+-------+---------------+-----------------------------+
| 3 | ``pw_gid`` | Numerical group ID |
+-------+---------------+-----------------------------+
| 4 | ``pw_gecos`` | User name or comment field |
+-------+---------------+-----------------------------+
| 5 | ``pw_dir`` | User home directory |
+-------+---------------+-----------------------------+
| 6 | ``pw_shell`` | User command interpreter |
+-------+---------------+-----------------------------+
The uid and gid items are integers, all others are strings. :exc:`KeyError` is
raised if the entry asked for cannot be found.
.. note::
.. index:: module: crypt
In traditional Unix the field ``pw_passwd`` usually contains a password
encrypted with a DES derived algorithm (see module :mod:`crypt`). However most
modern unices use a so-called *shadow password* system. On those unices the
*pw_passwd* field only contains an asterisk (``'*'``) or the letter ``'x'``
where the encrypted password is stored in a file :file:`/etc/shadow` which is
not world readable. Whether the *pw_passwd* field contains anything useful is
system-dependent. If available, the :mod:`spwd` module should be used where
access to the encrypted password is required.
It defines the following items:
.. function:: getpwuid(uid)
Return the password database entry for the given numeric user ID.
.. function:: getpwnam(name)
Return the password database entry for the given user name.
.. function:: getpwall()
Return a list of all available password database entries, in arbitrary order.
.. seealso::
Module :mod:`grp`
An interface to the group database, similar to this.
Module :mod:`spwd`
An interface to the shadow password database, similar to this.
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