--- name: "pw.conf" section: "5" platform: "freebsd" package: "base" version: "16.0-CURRENT-20261027-61c70dc16a79" release: "FreeBSD 16.0-CURRENT (2026-10-27)" platforms: ["freebsd"] url: "https://new.carta.tech/pw.conf" --- # pw.conf(5) system user and group editor configuration file ## NAME **pw.conf** – system user and group editor configuration file ## DESCRIPTION The file */etc/pw.conf* contains configuration data for the [pw(8)](/pw/8.md) utility. The [pw(8)](/pw/8.md) utility is used for maintenance of the system password and group files, allowing users and groups to be added, deleted and changed. This file may be modified via the [pw(8)](/pw/8.md) command using the *useradd* command and the **-D** option, or by editing it directly with a text editor. Each line in */etc/pw.conf* is treated either a comment or as configuration data; blank lines and lines commencing with a ‘#’ character are considered comments, and any remaining lines are examined for a leading keyword, followed by corresponding data. Keywords recognized by [pw(8)](/pw/8.md) are: - defaultpasswd affect passwords generated for new users - reuseuids reuse gaps in uid sequences - reusegids reuse gaps in gid sequences - nispasswd path to the NIS passwd database - skeleton where to obtain default home contents - newmail mail to send to new users - logfile log user/group modifications to this file - home root directory for home directories - homemode permissions for home directory - shellpath paths in which to locate shell programs - shells list of valid shells (without path) - defaultshell default shell (without path) - defaultgroup default group - extragroups add new users to this groups - defaultclass place new users in this login class - minuid - maxuid range of valid default user ids - mingid - maxgid range of valid default group ids - expire\_days days after which account expires - password\_days days after which password expires Valid values for *defaultpasswd* are: - no disable login on newly created accounts - yes force the password to be the account name - none force a blank password - random generate a random password The second and third options are insecure and should be avoided if possible on a publicly accessible system. The first option requires that the superuser run [passwd(1)](/passwd/1.md) to set a password before the account may be used. This may also be useful for creating administrative accounts. The final option causes [pw(8)](/pw/8.md) to respond by printing a randomly generated password on stdout. This is the preferred and most secure option. The [pw(8)](/pw/8.md) utility also provides a method of setting a specific password for the new user via a filehandle (command lines are not secure). Both *reuseuids* and *reusegids* determine the method by which new user and group id numbers are generated. A ‘yes’ in this field will cause [pw(8)](/pw/8.md) to search for the first unused user or group id within the allowed range, whereas a ‘no’ will ensure that no other existing user or group id within the range is numerically lower than the new one generated, and therefore avoids reusing gaps in the user or group id sequence that are caused by previous user or group deletions. Note that if the default group is not specified using the *defaultgroup* keyword, [pw(8)](/pw/8.md) will create a new group for the user and attempt to keep the new user's uid and gid the same. If the new user's uid is currently in use as a group id, then the next available group id is chosen instead. On NIS servers which maintain a separate passwd database to */etc/master.passwd*, this option allows the additional file to be concurrently updated as user records are added, modified or removed. If blank or set to 'no', no additional database is updated. An absolute pathname must be used. The *skeleton* keyword nominates a directory from which the contents of a user's new home directory is constructed. This is */usr/share/skel* by default. The [pw(8)](/pw/8.md)'s **-m** option causes the user's home directory to be created and populated using the files contained in the *skeleton* directory. To send an initial email to new users, the *newmail* keyword may be used to specify a path name to a file containing the message body of the message to be sent. To avoid sending mail when accounts are created, leave this entry blank or specify ‘no’. The *logfile* option allows logging of password file modifications into the nominated log file. To avoid creating or adding to such a logfile, then leave this field blank or specify ‘no’. The *home* keyword is mandatory. This specifies the location of the directory in which all new user home directories are created. The *homemode* keyword is optional. It specifies the creation mask of the user's home directory and is modified by [umask(2)](/umask/2.md). The *shellpath* keyword specifies a list of directories - separated by colons ‘:’ - which contain the programs used by the login shells. The *shells* keyword specifies a list of programs available for use as login shells. This list is a comma-separated list of shell names which should not contain a path. These shells must exist in one of the directories nominated by *shellpath*. The *defaultshell* keyword nominates which shell program to use for new users when none is specified on the [pw(8)](/pw/8.md) command line. The *defaultgroup* keyword defines the primary group (the group id number in the password file) used for new accounts. If left blank, or the word ‘no’ is used, then each new user will have a corresponding group of their own created automatically. This is the recommended procedure for new users as it best secures each user's files against interference by other users of the system irrespective of the *umask* normally used by the user. The *extragroups* keyword provides an automatic means of placing new users into groups within the */etc/groups* file. This is useful where all users share some resources, and is preferable to placing users into the same primary group. The effect of this keyword can be overridden using the **-G** option on the [pw(8)](/pw/8.md) command line. The *defaultclass* field determines the login class (See [login.conf(5)](/login.conf/5.md)) that new users will be allocated unless overwritten by [pw(8)](/pw/8.md). The *minuid*, *maxuid*, *mingid*, *maxgid* keywords determine the allowed ranges of automatically allocated user and group id numbers. The default values for both user and group ids are 1000 and 32000 as minimum and maximum respectively. The user and group id's actually used when creating an account with [pw(8)](/pw/8.md) may be overridden using the **-u** and **-g** command line options. The *expire\_days* and *password\_days* are used to automatically calculate the number of days from the date on which an account is created when the account will expire or the user will be forced to change the account's password. A value of ‘0’ in either field will disable the corresponding (account or password) expiration date. ## LIMITS The maximum line length of */etc/pw.conf* is 1024 characters. Longer lines will be skipped and treated as comments. ## FILES - */etc/pw.conf* - */etc/passwd* - */etc/master.passwd* - */etc/group* ## SEE ALSO [passwd(1)](/passwd/1.md), [umask(2)](/umask/2.md), [group(5)](/group/5.md), [login.conf(5)](/login.conf/5.md), [passwd(5)](/passwd/5.md), [pw(8)](/pw/8.md)