Chapter 5

Set Up Password and Group Files

Password and group information

What this chapter contains

This chapter describes how to set up the passwd and group files on the filer so that the filer can authenticate users. Note that the procedures in this chapter are accomplished using the command line.

Who should use this chapter

You should use the information in this chapter if your filer is licensed for the CIFS protocol and does not use a Windows NT domain controller to authenticate users.

If your filer does use a Windows NT domain controller, skip this chapter and continue with Chapter 6, "Configuring Access to CIFS Shares."

How the filer uses the passwd and group files

The initial setup created default passwd and group files in the /etc directory of the filer default volume. The filer uses passwd and group files for the following reasons:

To authenticate users for CIFS or PC-NFSD access and to translate user and group names in the /etc/quotas file to UIDs and GIDs
If the filer uses a Windows NT domain controller to authenticate CIFS users, the domain controller verifies the user's login name and password, and the filer verifies that the user has an entry in the passwd file.

If the filer uses the passwd file to authenticate NFS or CIFS users, the filer uses the encrypted password in the passwd file to verify the user's login name and password.
To determine CIFS guest access
For additional information about guest access, see "Enabling guest access" in the System Administrator's Guide.
To determine users' rights to access files
For information about how the filer uses the files to determine access rights in an environment with both NFS and CIFS users, refer to "Choosing the method of deciding access rights" in the System Administrator's Guide.

The default passwd file

The following illustration shows the default entry in the passwd file.

The following table describes the fields in an entry.


Field	Description
User name	Contains a user name for the user.
Encrypted password	Contains a password for the user. The filer disregards this field if NIS or a Windows NT domain controller is used to authenticate user names and passwords.
UID	Contains a unique integer that is the UID (user ID).
GID	Contains a unique integer that is the user's primary GID (group ID).
User's full name	Contains the user's full name. The filer ignores this field.
UNIX home directory	Contains the path of the user's home directory. The filer ignores this field.
Default shell	Contains the path of the user's default shell. The filer ignores this field.

The default group file

The following illustration shows the default entry in the group file.

The following table describes the fields in an entry.


Field	Description
Group name	Contains a unique group name.
Encrypted password	Contains a password. This field is never used and is blank.
GID	Contains a unique integer that is the GID.
User names	Contains a comma-separated list of user names that belong to the group.

Part No. 210-02323
File: pwd_grp1.htm
Last updated: 02/22/99 13:48:33