.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
.\"
-.\" $Id: pw.conf.5,v 1.1.1.3 1996/12/10 23:58:59 joerg Exp $
+.\" $Id: pw.conf.5,v 1.7 1997/10/10 06:23:34 charnier Exp $
.\"
.Dd December 9, 1996
.Dt PW.CONF 5
This file may be modified via the
.Xr pw 8
command using the
-.Ql \&useradd
+.Ar useradd
command and the
-.Ql \&-D
+.Fl D
option, or by editing it directly with a text editor.
.Pp
Each line in
character are considered comments, and any remaining lines are
examined for a leading keyword, followed by corresponding data.
.Pp
-Keywords recognised by
+Keywords recognized by
.Xr pw 8
are:
.Bl -tag -width password_days -offset indent -compact
.It defaultpasswd
-affects passwords generated for new users
+affect passwords generated for new users
.It reuseuids
reuse gaps in uid sequences
.It reusegids
reuse gaps in gid sequences
+.It nispasswd
+path to the NIS passwd database
.It skeleton
where to obtain default home contents
.It newmail
.Pp
Valid values for
.Ar defaultpasswd
-are
+are:
.Bl -tag -width password_days -offset indent -compact
.It no
-disables login on newly created accounts
+disable login on newly created accounts
.It yes
-forces the password to be the account name
+force the password to be the account name
.It none
-forces a blank password
+force a blank password
.It random
-Generates a random password
+generate a random password
.El
.Pp
The second and third options are insecure and should be avoided if
.Xr pw 8
to respond by printing a randomly generated password on stdout.
This is the preferred and most secure option.
-.Xr pw 8
+.Xr Pw 8
also provides a method of setting a specific password for the new
user via a filehandle (command lines are not secure).
.Pp
If the new user's uid is currently in use as a group id, then the next
available group id is chosen instead.
.Pp
+On NIS servers which maintain a separate passwd database to
+.Pa /etc/master.passwd ,
+this option allows the additional file to be concurrently updated
+as user records are added, modified or removed.
+If blank or set to 'no', no additional database is updated.
+An absolute pathname must be used.
+.Pp
The
.Ar skeleton
keyword nominates a directory from which the contents of a user's
This is
.Pa /usr/share/skel
by default.
-.Xr pw 8 's
-.Ql \&-m
+.Xr Pw 8 's
+.Fl m
option causes the user's home directory to be created and populated
using the files contained in the
.Ar skeleton
This is useful where all users share some resources, and is preferable
to placing users into the same primary group.
The effect of this keyword can be overridden using the
-.Ql \&-G
+.Fl G
option on the
.Xr pw 8
command line.
The user and group id's actually used when creating an account with
.Xr pw 8
may be overridden using the
-.Ql \&-u
+.Fl u
and
-.Ql \&-g
+.Fl g
command line options.
.Pp
The
.It Pa /etc/group
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
-.Xr pw 8 ,
-.Xr login.conf 5 ,
.Xr passwd 1 ,
+.Xr group 5 ,
+.Xr login.conf 5 ,
.Xr passwd 5 ,
-.Xr group 5
-
-
+.Xr pw 8