= Syntax of master.passwd = 

The master.passwd is a text file with every line holding exactly one user.

''Note: The user information in master.passwd is a prerequisite for Samba's own user information.

One line consists of several fields delimited by a ":".

Sample line with all fields:

{{{Username:password:UID:GID:Login-Class:Change pw in x sec:Deactivate in x sec:GECOS:HOME:SHELL}}}

||'''Field'''||'''Description'''||'''Recommended value when using Samba'''||'''Example
||Username||Username that should be used to login||Required field||{{{herwig}}}
||Password||Not used currently||Leave empty or add * as value||{{{*}}}
||UID||User-ID||Required, give each user a unique number||{{{110}}}
||GID||Group-ID||Required. If groups are not used, same value as UID||{{{110}}}
||Login-Class||Not used currently||Set to zero (0)||{{{0}}}
||Change pw in x sec||Not used currently||Set to zero (0)||{{{0}}}
||Deactivate pw in x sec||Not used currently||Set to zero (0)||{{{0}}}
||GECOS||Full username||Useful, but not completely supported||{{{Herwig Bauernfeind}}}
||Home||The user's home directory||Don't use it currently(*)||{{{/nonexistent}}}
||Shell||The user's shell||Not used currently||{{{/usr/sbin/nologin}}}

With the examples from the above table, a valid line in {{{master.passwd}}} would look like the following line:

{{{# This is a comment in master.passwd}}}
{{{herwig:*:110:110:0:0:0:Herwig Bauernfeind:/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin}}}

(*) You cannot enter a valid OS/2 path in this field as the ":" would be misinterpreted as a field delimiter resulting in a broken master.passwd. It is possible to use the kLibc PathRewriter to workaround this limitation, but this is currently not recommended.

''Note: Use the [homes] section of smb.conf in case home directories should be used.''