| VIPW(8) | System Management Commands | VIPW(8) |
.SH "NAME" vipw, vigr - edit the password, group, shadow-password
or shadow-group file
.SH "SYNOPSIS"
.HP 120u
vipw
[options]
.HP 120u
vigr
[options]
.SH "DESCRIPTION"
.PP The vipw and vigr commands edit the files /etc/passwd and
/etc/group, respectively. With the -s flag, they will edit the shadow
versions of those files, /etc/shadow and /etc/gshadow, respectively. The
programs will set the appropriate locks to prevent file corruption. When
looking for an editor, the programs will first try the environment variable
$VISUAL, then the environment variable $EDITOR, and finally
the default editor, vi(1).
.SH "OPTIONS"
.PP The options which apply to the vipw and vigr commands
are:
.PP -g, --group
Edit group database.
.RE
.PP -h, --help
Display help message and exit.
.RE
.PP -p, --passwd
Edit passwd database.
.RE
.PP -q, --quiet
Quiet mode.
.RE
.PP -R, --root CHROOT_DIR
Apply changes in the CHROOT_DIR directory and use the configuration files from the CHROOT_DIR directory. Only absolute paths are supported. No SELINUX support.
.RE
.PP -s, --shadow
Edit shadow or gshadow database.
.RE
.SH "ENVIRONMENT"
.PP VISUAL
Editor to be used.
.RE
.PP EDITOR
Editor to be used if VISUAL is not set.
.RE
.SH "FILES"
.PP /etc/group
Group account information.
.RE
.PP /etc/gshadow
Secure group account information.
.RE
.PP /etc/passwd
User account information.
.RE
.PP /etc/shadow
Secure user account information.
.RE
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.PP vi(1), group(5), gshadow(5) , passwd(5), ,
shadow(5).
| 08/29/2026 | shadow-utils 4.20.2 |