.new files for /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow, etc.
by uiopqwerty from LinuxQuestions.org on (#55K11)
I have noticed that my -current installation has some .new files for /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow, /etc/group, and /etc/gshadow. I can see that there are some differences between the two, in particular the current version of the file has my own user and a few other users I've made, while the .new version has users like e.g. ntp.
I would usually use `slackpkg new-config' to check whether there are .new files I need to look at, and use vimdiff to compare them - but these files aren't picked up by new-config, and I don't know about editing these files using vimdiff (my understanding is you should use vipw or vigr to edit /etc/passwd and /etc/group, and their respective shadow files). I'm not sure why these files aren't picked up by new-config - is there a reason for this?
In any case, I have never edited these files directly before (e.g. I would use useradd and groupadd to add new users and groups). I'm not entirely sure how Slackware treats them - my basic understanding is that, as long as you use vipw or vigr and the passwd and group files have entries corresponding to their respective shadow files, it's safe to edit these files directly.
Is it safe for me to use vipw and vigr to compare these files and pull over user or group entries as they appear in the .new files? There only appear to be a few new users and groups, and there are only inserts and deletions between the original and .new files (no partially different lines).
I would usually use `slackpkg new-config' to check whether there are .new files I need to look at, and use vimdiff to compare them - but these files aren't picked up by new-config, and I don't know about editing these files using vimdiff (my understanding is you should use vipw or vigr to edit /etc/passwd and /etc/group, and their respective shadow files). I'm not sure why these files aren't picked up by new-config - is there a reason for this?
In any case, I have never edited these files directly before (e.g. I would use useradd and groupadd to add new users and groups). I'm not entirely sure how Slackware treats them - my basic understanding is that, as long as you use vipw or vigr and the passwd and group files have entries corresponding to their respective shadow files, it's safe to edit these files directly.
Is it safe for me to use vipw and vigr to compare these files and pull over user or group entries as they appear in the .new files? There only appear to be a few new users and groups, and there are only inserts and deletions between the original and .new files (no partially different lines).