.TH UPDATE\-PASSWD 8 "Debian tools" "DEBIAN"
.SH NAME
update\-passwd \- safely update /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow and /etc/group
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B update\-passwd
.RI [ options ]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B update\-passwd
handles updates of /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow and /etc/group on running Debian
systems.
It compares the current files to master copies, distributed in the
base\-passwd package, and updates all entries in the global system range (that
is, 0\(en99).
.SH OPTIONS
.B update\-passwd
follows the usual GNU command line syntax, with long
options starting with two dashes (\(oq\-\(cq).
.TP
.BR \-p ,\  \-\-passwd\-master=FILE
Use FILE as the master copy of the passwd database.
The default value is
.IR /usr/share/base\-passwd/passwd.master .
.TP
.BR \-g ,\  \-\-group\-master=FILE
Use FILE as the master copy of the group database.
The default value is
.IR /usr/share/base\-passwd/group.master .
.TP
.BR \-P ,\  \-\-passwd=FILE
Use FILE as the system passwd database.
The default value is
.IR /etc/passwd .
.TP
.BR \-S ,\  \-\-shadow=FILE
Use FILE as the system shadow database.
The default value is
.IR /etc/shadow .
.TP
.BR \-G ,\  \-\-group=FILE
Use FILE as the system group database.
The default value is
.IR /etc/group .
.TP
.BR \-s ,\  \-\-sanity\-check
Only perform sanity-checks but don't do anything.
.TP
.BR \-v ,\  \-\-verbose
Give detailed information about what we are doing.
A second \-v gives additional detail.
.TP
.BR \-n ,\  \-\-dry\-run
Don't do anything but only show what we would do.
.TP
.BR \-L ,\  \-\-no\-locking
Don't attempt to lock the account database.
This should only be used for debugging purposes.
.B I repeat: do not do this unless you are really sure you need this!
.TP
.BR \-h ,\  \-\-help
Show a summary of how to use
.BR update\-passwd .
.TP
.BR \-V ,\  \-\-version
Show the version number
.SH ENVIRONMENT
.TP
DEBIAN_HAS_FRONTEND
If this environment variable is set and the
.B \-\-dry\-run
flag was not given,
.B update\-passwd
uses debconf to prompt for whether to make changes.
Each proposed change will produce a separate prompt.
User or group removals, UID or GID changes, and home directory changes
will be asked with high priority.
User or group additions and shell changes will be asked with medium
priority.
Questions about whether to move entries above the NIS compat inclusion
entry or whether to change the GECOS of a user are asked at low priority.
.SH BUGS
At this moment
.B update\-passwd
does not verify the shadow-file.
It should check if the entries in the passwd are also in shadow
and vice versa, and that passwords are not present in both files.
.SH AUTHOR
Wichert Akkerman <wakkerma@debian.org>
.PP
This program was written for the Debian project, and is
copyright 1999\(en2002 Wichert Akkerman and
copyright 2002, 2003 Colin Watson.
It is distributed under version 2 of the GNU General Public License.