VIPW(8)

💖 VIPW(8) — vipw, vigr 💖

ok so real talk, bestie: this is the vipw(8) page from the shadow-utils girlies, and it's also bringing vigr along for the ride. two icons, one manpage, both absolutely essential if you're messing with account files. let's get into it 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

so these two commands are vipw and vigr — and what they do is edit the password, group, shadow-password or shadow-group file. that's literally the whole job, no cap 💅

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

okay the vibe check on syntax is super simple, look:

vipw [options]

vigr [options]

like yes, that's it, that's the whole opening move 🦋

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so here's the tea ☕ — the vipw and vigr commands edit the files /etc/passwd and /etc/group, respectively. respectively!! meaning vipw takes the passwd file and vigr takes the group file, they're not out here swapping, iykyk.

but wait, there's more 💖 — if you hit them with the -s flag, they will edit the shadow versions of those files instead: /etc/shadow and /etc/gshadow, respectively. so -s is giving "take me to the secret file" energy and honestly? obsessed.

and bestie, this is the important part: the programs will set the appropriate locks to prevent file corruption. that's the whole reason you use these instead of just yeeting open /etc/passwd in vim like a menace. do NOT come for me in the replies if you skip the locks 🙈

when the programs go looking for an editor, they're not picky — they check in this exact order:

1. first they try the environment variable $VISUAL
2. then they try the environment variable $EDITOR
3. and finally, the default editor, vi(1)

so if your editor situation is chaotic, now you know exactly who to blame 🌸

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✨ OPTIONS ✨

the options which apply to the vipw and vigr commands are — yes, both of them, this list is shared, we love a crossover episode 🫶

• -g, --group — edit the group database. group chat for your groups, basically.
• -h, --help — display the help message and exit. the "just tell me what to do" option, iconic.
• -p, --passwd — edit the passwd database. user accounts, coming right up.
• -q, --quiet — quiet mode. shhh 🤫 no yapping.
• -R, --root CHROOT_DIR — apply changes in the CHROOT_DIR directory and use the configuration files from the CHROOT_DIR directory. ⚠️ heads up though: only absolute paths are supported. do not come at this with a relative path, it will not go well for you, fr fr.
• -s, --shadow — edit the shadow or gshadow database. the secret menu ✨

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✨ ENVIRONMENT ✨

these two env vars are the ones calling the shots on which editor shows up:

• VISUAL — the editor to be used. main character of the editor-hunting process, gets first dibs 👑
• EDITOR — the editor to be used if VISUAL is not set. so it's the backup dancer, but a very important backup dancer 💜

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✨ FILES ✨

the files these bad boys are touching, in all their glory:

• /etc/group — group account information.
• /etc/gshadow — secure group account information. 🔒
• /etc/passwd — user account information.
• /etc/shadow — secure user account information. 🔒

like, look at them. four little files running the entire account system. slay 🎀

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✨ SEE ALSO ✨

go read these next, bestie, they're all connected:

vi(1), group(5), gshadow(5), passwd(5), shadow(5)

(and yes, that's exactly how the original lists them — I'm not about to "fix" the punctuation, that's not my business 💀)

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⚠️ tiny reminder before you go: these commands exist specifically to set locks so your files don't get corrupted. don't skip them, don't get cute with relative paths on -R, and maybe set $VISUAL to something you actually know how to exit. 💅

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and that's the whole page!! this one came to you courtesy of shadow-utils 4.18.0, dated 06/24/2025 — she's serving version numbers and timestamps at the very end like the legend she is 🌈⭐💖