---
name: "pwd_mkdb"
section: "8"
platform: "openbsd"
package: "man"
version: "8.0-current-20261101"
release: "OpenBSD 8.0-current (2026-11-01)"
platforms: ["freebsd", "openbsd", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/pwd_mkdb"
---

# pwd\_mkdb(8)

generate the password databases

## NAME

**pwd\_mkdb** – generate the password databases

## SYNOPSIS

**pwd\_mkdb** \[**-c**\] \[**-p** \| **-s**\] \[**-d** *directory*\] \[**-u** *username*\] *file*

## DESCRIPTION

**pwd\_mkdb** creates a pair of Berkeley databases from *file* and installs them into */etc/spwd.db* and */etc/pwd.db*. The *file* argument is renamed to */etc/master.passwd*.

The options are as follows:

- **-c**

  Check whether *file* is in the correct format. Do not change, add, or remove any files.

- **-d** *directory*

  Operate in a base directory other than the default of */etc*. All absolute paths (including *file*) will be made relative to *directory*. Any directories specified as a part of *file* will be stripped off. This option is used to create password databases in directories other than */etc*; for instance in a [chroot(8)](/chroot/8.md) jail.

- **-p**

  Also create a legacy password file and install it into */etc/passwd*.

- **-s**

  Only update the secure version of the database. This is most commonly used in conjunction with the **-u** flag during a password change. Because the insecure database doesn't contain the password, there is no reason to update it if the only change is in the password field. Cannot be used in conjunction with the **-p** flag.

- **-u** *username*

  Only update the record for the specified user. Utilities that operate on a single user can use this option to avoid the overhead of rebuilding the entire database. This option must never be used if the line number of the user's record in */etc/master.passwd* has changed.

- *file*

  The absolute path to a file in [master.passwd(5)](/master.passwd/5.md) format.

The two databases differ in that the secure version contains the user's encrypted password and the insecure version has an asterisk (‘\*’).

The databases are used by the C library password routines (see [getpwent(3)](/getpwent/3.md)).

## FILES

- */etc/master.passwd*

  current password file

- */etc/passwd*

  legacy password file

- */etc/pwd.db*

  insecure password database file

- */etc/pwd.db.tmp*

  temporary file

- */etc/spwd.db*

  secure password database file

- */etc/spwd.db.tmp*

  temporary file

## EXIT STATUS

The **pwd\_mkdb** utility exits 0 on success, and \>0 if an error occurs.

## SEE ALSO

[chpass(1)](/chpass/1.md), [passwd(1)](/passwd/1.md), [dbopen(3)](/dbopen/3.md), [getpwent(3)](/getpwent/3.md), [passwd(5)](/passwd/5.md), [vipw(8)](/vipw/8.md)

## HISTORY

The **pwd\_mkdb** utility first appeared in 4.3BSD-Net/2.

## AUTHORS

Keith Bostic

## BUGS

Because of the necessity for atomic update of the password files, **pwd\_mkdb** uses [rename(2)](/rename/2.md) to install them. This, however, requires that the file specified on the command line live on the same file system as the */etc* directory.

There are the obvious races with multiple people running **pwd\_mkdb** on different password files at the same time. The front-ends to **pwd\_mkdb**, [chpass(1)](/chpass/1.md), [passwd(1)](/passwd/1.md), and [vipw(8)](/vipw/8.md) handle the locking necessary to avoid this problem.