GETENT(1)

NAME
getent - get entries from administrative database

SYNOPSIS
getent database [key ...]

DESCRIPTION
The getent utility retrieves and displays entries from the administrative database specified by database, using the lookup order specified in nsswitch.conf(5). The display format for a given database is as per the “traditional” file format for that database.

The database argument may be one of:

Database | Display format
ethers | address name
group | group:passwd:gid:[member[,member]...]
hosts | address name [alias ...]
netgroup | (host,user,domain) [...]
networks | name network [alias ...]
passwd | user:passwd:uid:gid:gecos:home_dir:shell
protocols | name protocol [alias ...]
rpc | name number [alias ...]
services | name port/protocol [alias ...]
shells | /path/to/shell
utmpx | [time] type: properties

If one or more key arguments are provided, they will be looked up in database using the appropriate function. For example, “passwd” supports a numeric UID or user name; “hosts” supports an IPv4 address, IPv6 address, or host name; and “services” supports a service name, service name/protocol name, numeric port, or numeric port/protocol name.

If no key is provided and database supports enumeration, all entries for database will be retrieved using the appropriate enumeration function and printed.

EXIT STATUS
The getent utility exits 0 on success, 1 if there was an error in the command syntax, 2 if one of the specified key names was not found in database, or 3 if there is no support for enumeration on database.

EXAMPLES
Show entry for user sshd from the passwd database:

    $ getent passwd sshd
    sshd:*:22:22:Secure Shell Daemon:/var/empty:/usr/sbin/nologin

Show entry for TCP from the protocols database:

    $ getent protocols tcp
    tcp                   6  TCP

Show entry for the localhost IPv6 address ::1 from the hosts database:

    $ getent hosts ::1
    ::1               localhost  localhost.my.domain

SEE ALSO
getutxent(3), ethers(5), group(5), hosts(5), netgroup(5), networks(5), nsswitch.conf(5), passwd(5), protocols(5), rpc(5), services(5), shells(5)

HISTORY
A getent command appeared in NetBSD 3.0, and was imported into FreeBSD 7.0. It was based on the command of the same name in Solaris and Linux.