TABLE_PASSWD(5)

💖 NAME 💖

table_passwd — format description for smtpd passwd tables.

Okay bestie, this is the table_passwd(5) manual page from the File Formats Manual, and it's here to explain the format description for smtpd passwd tables. Periodt. ✨

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

This manual page documents the file format of passwd tables used by the smtpd(8) mail daemon. Yes, the mail daemon — main character energy. The format described here applies to tables as defined in smtpd.conf(5). Ngl, that's the whole vibe check for this page.

🌸 PASSWD TABLE 🌸

A passwd table stores information regarding local users. The information is encoded using the traditional passwd(5) format, and that lowkey allows the sharing of a user database across different software supporting this format. Obsessed with interoperability, honestly. 🫶

The table is used by smtpd(8) when authenticating a user or when user information such as user-id or home directory is required for a delivery. So it's giving auth + delivery details energy.

A passwd table consists of a flat file containing the user entries, each one on a line by itself, with fields separated by a colon:

gilles:*:1000:1000:Gilles:/home/gilles:/sbin/nologin
eric:*:1001:1001:Eric:/home/eric:/sbin/nologin
chl:*:1002:1002:Charles:/home/chl:/sbin/nologin

Besides the first username field and depending on the table type, fields are optional and might be empty. The gecos and the shell field are not used and ignored. Like, they're literally just vibing there. 💀

If the table is used for authentication, the second field should contain a password encrypted using the crypt(3) function. Such passwords can be generated using the encrypt(1) utility or smtpctl(8) encrypt command. Slay, but keep that second field encrypted, okay? 🎀

If the table is used for user information, user-id, group-id, and home directory fields are required. No cap — those three need to be there for that use case.

In favor of supporting shared authentication with the Dovecot Passwd-file format, extra fields after the last shell field are allowed (and ignored). Cute. Extra fields can come along for the ride; nobody's checking them. 🍓

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

passwd(5), smtpd.conf(5), smtpctl(8), smtpd(8) — go read those too, bestie. Iykyk. 💜

💜 HISTORY 💜

The first version of table_passwd was written in 2013. It was converted to the stdio table protocol in 2024. Glow-up timeline fr fr. 🔥

⭐ AUTHORS ⭐

table_passwd was initially written by Gilles Chehade <gilles@poolp.org> and further improved by Joerg Jung <jung@openbsd.org>. The conversion to the stdio table protocol was done by Omar Polo <op@openbsd.org>. Iconic collaboration, honestly. 🌈

---

This page is from Debian, dated April 4, 2024 — byeee bestie 💅💖