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The Data Structure that Describes a User

The functions and data structures for accessing the system user database are declared in the header file pwd.h.

struct passwd Data Type
The passwd data structure is used to hold information about entries in the system user data base. It has at least the following members:
char *pw_name
The user's login name.
char *pw_passwd.
The encrypted password string.
uid_t pw_uid
The user ID number.
gid_t pw_gid
The user's default group ID number.
char *pw_gecos
A string typically containing the user's real name, and possibly other information such as a phone number.
char *pw_dir
The user's home directory, or initial working directory. This might be a null pointer, in which case the interpretation is system-dependent.
char *pw_shell
The user's default shell, or the initial program run when the user logs in. This might be a null pointer, indicating that the system default should be used.