Important AIX system files

Look at the some of the files that affect the user itself:

• /etc/passwd
• /etc/security/.profile
• /etc/security/limits
• /etc/security/passwd
• /etc/security/user
• /usr/lib/security/mkuser.default

/etc/passwd

The file /etc/passwd contains the basics of a user and is probably the best-known file to UNIX® and Linux® users for user administration.

An example /etc/passwd file

root:!:0:0::/:/usr/bin/ksh daemon:!:1:1::/etc: bin:!:2:2::/bin: sys:!:3:3::/usr/sys: adm:!:4:4::/var/adm: uucp:!:5:5::/usr/lib/uucp: guest:!:100:100::/home/guest: nobody:!:4294967294:4294967294::/: lpd:!:9:4294967294::/: lp:*:11:11::/var/spool/lp:/bin/false invscout:*:6:12::/var/adm/invscout:/usr/bin/ksh snapp:*:200:13:snapp login user:/usr/sbin/snapp:/usr/sbin/snappd ipsec:*:201:1::/etc/ipsec:/usr/bin/ksh nuucp:*:7:5:uucp login user:/var/spool/uucppublic:/usr/sbin/uucp/uucico pconsole:*:8:0::/var/adm/pconsole:/usr/bin/ksh esaadmin:*:10:0::/var/esa:/usr/bin/ksh sshd:*:206:201::/var/empty:/usr/bin/ksh atc:!:8000:400:Adam Cormany,Sr UNIX Admin:/home/atc:/bin/ksh amdc:!:8001:401:AMDC:/home/amdc:/bin/ksh pac:!:8002:400:PAC,Jr UNIX Admin:/home/pac:/bin/ksh atc2:!:8003:402:ATCv2:/home/atc2:/bin/ksh

As you can see, the file is colon (:) delimited, and each entry contains seven fields in the following format (with spaces added before and after delimiter to ease reading):

Username : Password Flag : UID : GID : GECOS : Home : Shell/Command

Here's the line-by-line breakdown:

• Username. This is the login/user name associated with the account.
• Password Flag. This field varies slightly in different flavors of UNIX and Linux. In AIX, the second field can contain one of two characters, either ! or *. If the ! is displayed, a password has been set for the user. If no password has been set, *appears. The passwords themselves are stored in /etc/security/passwd.
• UID. The User Identifier (UID) is a numeric identifier to a user.
• GID. The Group Identifier (GID) is similar to the UID but is associated with groups. The GIDs are defined in /etc/group.
• GECOS. The General Electric Comprehensive Operating System (GECOS) information is stored in the fifth field. The user's name, phone numbers, and other generic personal information are stored here.
• Home. This is the user's home directory.
• Shell/Command. Typically, the seventh and final field contains the shell that is started at the user's login. Administrators can also change this field to execute other commands instead of shells to limit access (for example, /bin/false).

/etc/security/.profile

The file /etc/security/.profile can really save you some valuable time and ease frustration. When you create a user using themkuser command, the script /usr/lib/security/mkuser.sys is executed. This script creates the user's directory, sets the correct permissions, and "creates" the user's .profile. The mkuser.sys script actually copies the /etc/security/.profile file into the user's new home directory.

If you are building a new system, or maybe a new division of 100 people needs accounts on a system, make sure you make your changes to the /etc/security/.profile file before creating all the users' accounts. If you create the accounts and then realize that you need to make a simple change in a variable or modify another setting, you're going to have to manually make the change to everyone's profile. It could be scripted out easily, but life would have been much simpler if you would have just changed the /etc/security/.profile.

 Example /etc/security/.profile file

PATH=/usr/bin:/etc:/usr/sbin:/usr/ucb:$HOME/bin:/usr/bin/X11:/sbin:. export PATH if [ -s "$MAIL" ] # This is at Shell startup. In normal then echo "$MAILMSG" # operation, the Shell checks fi # periodically.

/etc/security/limits

The /etc/security/limits file contains all the ulimits, or users' system resource limitations. 

Fields in /etc/security/limits

Soft limit	Hard limit	Description
fsize	fsize_hard	Size of file a user can create
core	core_hard	Size of core file a user can create
cpu	cpu_hard	The amount of system time allowed
data	data_hard	Size of the process data segment
stack	stack_hard	Size of the process stack segment
rss	rss_hard	Physical memory allowed
nofiles	nofiles_hard	Number of open file descriptors at one time
nproc	nproc_hard	Number of running processes at one time

What's the difference between soft and hard limits? A soft limit is a value that a user or application can change on the fly up to the maximum (the hard limit). The hard limit is just that -- the maximum value a parameter can be set to. If setting the parameter to a numeric value is too difficult (for example, if a developer has no idea how much memory his or her program is going to take or the number of files it will need to open), you can set the parameter to -1, which translates to unlimited.

It isn't imperative that you set individual ulimits for each and every user, however. The /etc/security/limits file contains a section called default that defines a template of standard values for each user unless that user has set custom values. If the defaultsection doesn't exist, IBM kindly set predetermined limits just in case.

The IBM default values are:

* Attribute Value * ========== ============ * fsize_hard set to fsize * cpu_hard set to cpu * core_hard -1 * data_hard -1 * stack_hard 8388608 * rss_hard -1 * nofiles_hard -1

Example /etc/security/limits file

default: fsize = 4194303 core = 16384 cpu = -1 data = 262144 rss = 65536 stack = 65536 pac: fsize = 131072 fsize_hard = 262144 core = 262144

Considering that user "pac" is a junior UNIX administrator, his fsize soft value was reduced from the default section's 4,194,303 to 131,072; however, you were nice enough to allow the user to increase his value to 262,144, if needed. Also, pac is notorious for finding ways to break his own programs. As a result, you've increased his core ulimit to 262,144.

/etc/security/passwd

The /etc/security/passwd file contains the AIX user's password information. The file contains three fields per user:

• password. Encrypted password.
  Note: If this field contains only an asterisk (*), the account is locked until a password has been set.
• lastupdate. Number of seconds since epoch when the password was last updated.
• flags. Restrictions to changing the user's password. You can set three different flags:
  • ADMIN. If set, only the root user can change the user's password.
  • ADMCHG. If set, the user is prompted to change his or her password on the next login/su.
  • NOCHECK. If set, any additional restrictions in /etc/security/user are ignored.

provides an example of a /etc/security/password file.

Example /etc/security/password file

amdc: password = oBQaUkPkUryCY lastupdate = 1243972006 flags = ADMCHG

In this example, user "amdc" has a password that was set on Tue. Jun. 2 15:46:46 EDT 2009. The next time the user logs in orsus to amdc, he or she will be prompted to change the password.

If you're wondering how I converted the seconds from epoch to something a little more readable, I wrote a Perl script. Here's the gist of that script:

# perl -e 'use POSIX; print strftime("%c\n", localtime(1243972006));' Tue Jun 2 15:46:46 EDT 2009

/etc/security/user

Now you're getting into the meat of AIX user administration. The /etc/security/user file contains the most important settings, outside of the basics in /etc/passwd, for a user. Table 2 shows some of the parameters.

Parameters in the /etc/security/user file

Parameter	Format	Description
account_locked	TRUE | FALSE	Lock out the account; the user is unable to log in if set to True.
admin	TRUE | FALSE	If True, the user has administrative rights.
expires	MMDDHHYY	If the date has been reached, the account has expired and is locked.
histexpire	0-260	Number of weeks the user can't reuse a password.
histsize	0-50	Number of passwords previously used that can't be reused.
login	TRUE | FALSE	User can log in if True.
maxage	0-52	Number of weeks a password is valid.
minage	0-52	Number of weeks a user must wait before changing his or her password.
rlogin	TRUE | FALSE	The account can be accessed remotely if set to True.
su	TRUE | FALSE	Others can use su to access this account if set to True.

For a full listing of all parameters, look in your AIX system under /etc/security/user, Like /etc/security/limits, a default section sets all the fields if not specified by the individual account.

/usr/lib/security/mkuser.default

The /usr/lib/security/mkuser.default file contains values used when creating a new AIX user through mkuser.

An example of what the file may look like on your system.

Example /usr/lib/security/mkuser.default file

user: pgrp = staff groups = staff shell = /usr/bin/ksh home = /home/$USER admin: pgrp = system groups = system shell = /usr/bin/ksh home = /home/$USER

Many more parameters can be defined in this file.