---
name: "table-passwd"
section: "5"
platform: "linux"
package: "opensmtpd-table-passwd"
version: "1.0.2-1+b1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/table-passwd"
---

# table-passwd(5)

format description for smtpd passwd tables

## NAME

**table\_passwd** – format description for smtpd passwd tables

## DESCRIPTION

This manual page documents the file format of "passwd" tables used by the [smtpd(8)](/smtpd/8.md) mail daemon.

The format described here applies to tables as defined in [smtpd.conf(5)](/smtpd.conf/5.md).

## PASSWD TABLE

A "passwd" table stores information regarding local users. The information is encoded using the traditional [passwd(5)](/passwd/5.md) format and allows the sharing of a user database across different software supporting this format.

The table is used by [smtpd(8)](/smtpd/8.md) when authenticating a user or when user information such as user-id or home directory is required for a delivery.

A "passwd" table consists of a flat file containing the user entries, each one on a line by itself, with fields separated by a colon:

```
gilles:*:1000:1000:Gilles:/home/gilles:/sbin/nologin
eric:*:1001:1001:Eric:/home/eric:/sbin/nologin
chl:*:1002:1002:Charles:/home/chl:/sbin/nologin
```

Besides the first username field and depending on the table type, fields are optional and might be empty. The gecos and the shell field are not used and ignored.

If the table is used for authentication, the second field should contain a password encrypted using the [crypt(3)](/crypt/3.md) function. Such passwords can be generated using the [encrypt(1)](/encrypt/1.md) utility or [smtpctl(8)](/smtpctl/8.md) encrypt command.

If the table is used for user information, user-id, group-id, and home directory fields are required.

In favor of supporting shared authentication with the Dovecot Passwd-file format, extra fields after the last shell field are allowed (and ignored).

## SEE ALSO

[passwd(5)](/passwd/5.md), [smtpd.conf(5)](/smtpd.conf/5.md), [smtpctl(8)](/smtpctl/8.md), [smtpd(8)](/smtpd/8.md)

## HISTORY

The first version of **table\_passwd** was written in 2013. It was converted to the stdio table protocol in 2024.

## AUTHORS

**table\_passwd** was initially written by Gilles Chehade ⟨*gilles@poolp.org*⟩ and further improved by Joerg Jung ⟨*jung@openbsd.org*⟩. The conversion to the stdio table protocol was done by Omar Polo ⟨*op@openbsd.org*⟩.