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I see three passwd files in /etc/ . Normally only one is supposed to be there called passwd but what the other two for , they look similar ....
  1. 06-22-2009 #1
    vickey_20
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    passwd , passwd-, passwd.OLD



    I see three passwd files in /etc/ . Normally only one is supposed to be there called passwd but what the other two for , they look similar .
    Only if I could understand the man pages
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  2. 06-22-2009 #2
    meton_magis
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    it would help if we knew what the other 2 were called.
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  3. 06-22-2009 #3
    vickey_20
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    sorry i forget to mention there names althoug it there in the headint if you see. They are shadow- and shadow.OLD
    Only if I could understand the man pages
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  4. 06-22-2009 #4
    bigtomrodney
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    Anytime you see a file with the .old suffix, it means it's not in use anymore but is there to fallback on should there be a problem. Is it definitely a hyphen after passwd/shadow? If it's a tilde (shadow~) that means the file has been edited by hand.

    If you have not edited these files yourself and your system isn't an upgrade from an earlier release I'd recommend using a rootkit scanner to ensure you haven't been compromised.
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  5. 06-22-2009 #5
    vickey_20
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    i found a link between the two files passwd and passwd- . When one uses the command
    Code:
    pwconv and pwunconv
    The contents of the files are interchanged with each other and may be the last file .OLD is simply a backup , don't know for what purpose???
    Only if I could understand the man pages
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  6. 07-15-2009 #6
    Mistoffeles
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    They are both backups.

    The one with the tilde is created automatically when you make a manual change with an editor, such as emacs. The .OLD file was probably made when you installed or configured something that modified the original file.
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