GETPWENT(3)                                         Linux Programmer's Manual                                        GETPWENT(3)



NAME
       getpwent, setpwent, endpwent - get password file entry

SYNOPSIS
       #include <sys/types.h>
       #include <pwd.h>

       struct passwd *getpwent(void);

       void setpwent(void);

       void endpwent(void);

   Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see feature_test_macros(7)):

       getpwent(), setpwent(), endpwent(): _BSD_SOURCE || _SVID_SOURCE || _XOPEN_SOURCE > = 500

DESCRIPTION
       The  getpwent()  function returns a pointer to a structure containing the broken-out fields of a record from the password
       database (e.g., the local password file /etc/passwd, NIS, and LDAP).  The first time it is called it  returns  the  first
       entry; thereafter, it returns successive entries.

       The setpwent() function rewinds to the beginning of the password database.

       The endpwent() function is used to close the password database after all processing has been performed.

       The passwd structure is defined in <pwd.h> as follows:

           struct passwd {
               char   *pw_name;       /* username */
               char   *pw_passwd;     /* user password */
               uid_t   pw_uid;        /* user ID */
               gid_t   pw_gid;        /* group ID */
               char   *pw_gecos;      /* real name */
               char   *pw_dir;        /* home directory */
               char   *pw_shell;      /* shell program */
           };

RETURN VALUE
       The getpwent() function returns a pointer to a passwd structure, or NULL if there are no more entries or an error occurs.
       If an error occurs, errno is set appropriately.  If one wants to check errno after the call, it should  be  set  to  zero
       before the call.

       The  return  value  may point to a static area, and may be overwritten by subsequent calls to getpwent(), getpwnam(3), or
       getpwuid(3).  (Do not pass the returned pointer to free(3).)

ERRORS
       EINTR  A signal was caught.

       EIO    I/O error.

       EMFILE The maximum number (OPEN_MAX) of files was open already in the calling process.

       ENFILE The maximum number of files was open already in the system.

       ENOMEM Insufficient memory to allocate passwd structure.

       ERANGE Insufficient buffer space supplied.

FILES
       /etc/passwd
              local password database file

CONFORMING TO
       SVr4, 4.3BSD, POSIX.1-2001.

SEE ALSO
       fgetpwent(3), getpw(3), getpwent_r(3), getpwnam(3), getpwuid(3), putpwent(3), passwd(5)

COLOPHON
       This page is part of release 3.25 of the Linux man-pages project.  A description of the project,  and  information  about
       reporting bugs, can be found at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.



GNU                                                        2009-03-30                                                GETPWENT(3)