Basic user information like its login name, home directory and
encrypted password is stored in a central database in /etc/passwd.
Here is a snapshot of a standard /etc/passwd
file:
root:abcdefghij:0:0:Super-User:/usr/people/root:/bin/csh
sysadm:*:0:0:System V Administration:/usr/admin:/bin/sh
cmwlogin:*:0:994:CMW Login UserID:/usr/CMW:/sbin/csh
diag:*:0:996:Hardware Diagnostics:/usr/diags:/bin/csh
daemon:*:1:1:daemons:/:/dev/null
bin:*:2:2:System Tools Owner:/bin:/dev/null
uucp:*:3:5:UUCP Owner:/usr/lib/uucp:/bin/csh
sys:*:4:0:System Activity Owner:/var/adm:/bin/sh
adm:*:5:3:Accounting Files Owner:/var/adm:/bin/sh
lp:*:9:9:Print Spooler Owner:/var/spool/lp:/bin/sh
nuucp::10:10:Remote UUCP User:/var/spool/uucppublic:/usr/lib/uucp/uucico
auditor:*:11:0:Audit Activity Owner:/auditor:/bin/sh
dbadmin:*:12:0:Security Database Owner:/dbadmin:/bin/sh
sgiweb:*:13:60001:SGI Web Applications:/var/www/htdocs:/bin/csh
rfindd:*:66:1:Rfind Daemon and Fsdump:/var/rfindd:/bin/sh
EZsetup::992:998:System Setup:/var/sysadmdesktop/EZsetup:/bin/csh
demos::993:997:Demonstration User:/usr/demos:/bin/csh
OutOfBox::995:997:Out of Box Experience:/usr/people/OutOfBox:/bin/csh
guest::998:998:Guest Account:/usr/people/guest:/bin/csh
4Dgifts:*:999:998:4Dgifts Account:/usr/people/4Dgifts:/bin/csh
nobody:*:60001:60001:SVR4 nobody uid:/dev/null:/dev/null
noaccess:*:60002:60002:uid no access:/dev/null:/dev/null
nobody:*:60001:60001:original nobody uid:/dev/null:/dev/null
kaya:abcdefghij:3002:20:Kaya Memisoglu:/usr/people/kaya:/bin/csh |
All entries follow a common pattern:
[login]:[password]:[uid]:[gid]:[rname]:[home]:[shell]
with the following meaning:
| Name |
Meaning |
| login |
login name of the user |
| password |
encrypted password of the user |
| uid |
user-id |
| gid |
group-id |
| rname |
real name |
| home |
home directory |
| shell |
shell |
There are users with their encrypted password set to an asterix
*, this means that the account is disabled
and the user cannot login to the system. An empty field means
that no password is installed, like in the "OutOfBox"
user and the "demos" user.
You may also have noticed that there are lots of strange users
like "daemon", "bin" etc. These are system
accounts needed by IRIX and are disabled, so nobody can login
with such an account, which often has addition permissions.
Now it should also be straight forward how to change the default
shell: You simply need to edit the last field in the corresponding
line of the user.