/etc/passwd File Problem

sobia · 02-19-2007, 10:04 PM

Hello,

I am new to linux and I want to ask that If I put !! (double exclamation mark) in password column in /etc/passwd file then what will happen and I leave it blank then what will be the output?

Thanks

baltho · 02-19-2007, 11:20 PM

From memory, Linux doesn't use the password in /etc/passwd any more - the file has to be readable by everyone for various reasons so the password (md5 hash of it, actually) is stored in /etc/shadow, which is only readable by root. So changing the password field in /etc/passwd should do nothing.

pixellany · 02-20-2007, 01:11 AM

Here is an entry from my passwd file:
mherring:x:1000:100:mherring:/home/mherring:/bin/bash

When you say "password field", do you mean the "x"?

Regardless of the actual password (in shadow), deleting the "x" will allow user mherring to log in with no password.

What is the !! supposed to do??

johngreenwood · 02-20-2007, 04:04 AM

I think I read somewhere that putting an exclamation mark in front of the hash will disable the account. Due to the fact that the stored hash and the hash from the entered password will not match. So I guess it would work with any character, not just exclamation marks. Where did I read that? I don't know.