File: //usr/share/doc/python3-doc/html/library/spwd.html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" /><meta name="generator" content="Docutils 0.17.1: http://docutils.sourceforge.net/" />
<title>spwd — The shadow password database — Python 3.10.12 documentation</title><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../_static/pygments.css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../_static/pydoctheme.css?2022.1" />
<script data-url_root="../" id="documentation_options" src="../_static/documentation_options.js"></script>
<script src="../_static/jquery.js"></script>
<script src="../_static/underscore.js"></script>
<script src="../_static/doctools.js"></script>
<script src="../_static/sidebar.js"></script>
<link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml"
title="Search within Python 3.10.12 documentation"
href="../_static/opensearch.xml"/>
<link rel="author" title="About these documents" href="../about.html" />
<link rel="index" title="Index" href="../genindex.html" />
<link rel="search" title="Search" href="../search.html" />
<link rel="copyright" title="Copyright" href="../copyright.html" />
<link rel="next" title="sunau — Read and write Sun AU files" href="sunau.html" />
<link rel="prev" title="sndhdr — Determine type of sound file" href="sndhdr.html" />
<link rel="canonical" href="file:///usr/share/doc/python3.10/html/library/spwd.html" />
<style>
@media only screen {
table.full-width-table {
width: 100%;
}
}
</style>
<link rel="shortcut icon" type="image/png" href="../_static/py.svg" />
<script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/copybutton.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="../_static/menu.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
<div class="mobile-nav">
<input type="checkbox" id="menuToggler" class="toggler__input" aria-controls="navigation"
aria-pressed="false" aria-expanded="false" role="button" aria-label="Menu" />
<label for="menuToggler" class="toggler__label">
<span></span>
</label>
<nav class="nav-content" role="navigation">
<a href="https://www.python.org/" class="nav-logo">
<img src="../_static/py.svg" alt="Logo"/>
</a>
<div class="version_switcher_placeholder"></div>
<form role="search" class="search" action="../search.html" method="get">
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" class="search-icon">
<path fill-rule="nonzero"
d="M15.5 14h-.79l-.28-.27a6.5 6.5 0 001.48-5.34c-.47-2.78-2.79-5-5.59-5.34a6.505 6.505 0 00-7.27 7.27c.34 2.8 2.56 5.12 5.34 5.59a6.5 6.5 0 005.34-1.48l.27.28v.79l4.25 4.25c.41.41 1.08.41 1.49 0 .41-.41.41-1.08 0-1.49L15.5 14zm-6 0C7.01 14 5 11.99 5 9.5S7.01 5 9.5 5 14 7.01 14 9.5 11.99 14 9.5 14z" fill="#444"></path>
</svg>
<input type="text" name="q" aria-label="Quick search"/>
<input type="submit" value="Go"/>
</form>
</nav>
<div class="menu-wrapper">
<nav class="menu" role="navigation" aria-label="main navigation">
<div class="language_switcher_placeholder"></div>
<h4>Previous topic</h4>
<p class="topless"><a href="sndhdr.html"
title="previous chapter"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sndhdr</span></code> — Determine type of sound file</a></p>
<h4>Next topic</h4>
<p class="topless"><a href="sunau.html"
title="next chapter"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sunau</span></code> — Read and write Sun AU files</a></p>
<div role="note" aria-label="source link">
<h3>This Page</h3>
<ul class="this-page-menu">
<li><a href="../bugs.html">Report a Bug</a></li>
<li>
<a href="https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/3.10/Doc/library/spwd.rst"
rel="nofollow">Show Source
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</nav>
</div>
</div>
<div class="related" role="navigation" aria-label="related navigation">
<h3>Navigation</h3>
<ul>
<li class="right" style="margin-right: 10px">
<a href="../genindex.html" title="General Index"
accesskey="I">index</a></li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="../py-modindex.html" title="Python Module Index"
>modules</a> |</li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="sunau.html" title="sunau — Read and write Sun AU files"
accesskey="N">next</a> |</li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="sndhdr.html" title="sndhdr — Determine type of sound file"
accesskey="P">previous</a> |</li>
<li><img src="../_static/py.svg" alt="python logo" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-top: -1px"/></li>
<li><a href="https://www.python.org/">Python</a> »</li>
<li class="switchers">
<div class="language_switcher_placeholder"></div>
<div class="version_switcher_placeholder"></div>
</li>
<li>
</li>
<li id="cpython-language-and-version">
<a href="../index.html">3.10.12 Documentation</a> »
</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-1"><a href="index.html" >The Python Standard Library</a> »</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-2"><a href="superseded.html" accesskey="U">Superseded Modules</a> »</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-this"><a href=""><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">spwd</span></code> — The shadow password database</a></li>
<li class="right">
<div class="inline-search" role="search">
<form class="inline-search" action="../search.html" method="get">
<input placeholder="Quick search" aria-label="Quick search" type="text" name="q" />
<input type="submit" value="Go" />
<input type="hidden" name="check_keywords" value="yes" />
<input type="hidden" name="area" value="default" />
</form>
</div>
|
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="document">
<div class="documentwrapper">
<div class="bodywrapper">
<div class="body" role="main">
<section id="module-spwd">
<span id="spwd-the-shadow-password-database"></span><h1><a class="reference internal" href="#module-spwd" title="spwd: The shadow password database (getspnam() and friends). (deprecated) (Unix)"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">spwd</span></code></a> — The shadow password database<a class="headerlink" href="#module-spwd" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
<div class="deprecated">
<p><span class="versionmodified deprecated">Deprecated since version 3.11: </span>The <a class="reference internal" href="#module-spwd" title="spwd: The shadow password database (getspnam() and friends). (deprecated) (Unix)"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">spwd</span></code></a> module is deprecated
(see <span class="target" id="index-0"></span><a class="pep reference external" href="https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0594#spwd"><strong>PEP 594</strong></a> for details and alternatives).</p>
</div>
<hr class="docutils" />
<p>This module provides access to the Unix shadow password database. It is
available on various Unix versions.</p>
<p>You must have enough privileges to access the shadow password database (this
usually means you have to be root).</p>
<p>Shadow password database entries are reported as a tuple-like object, whose
attributes correspond to the members of the <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">spwd</span></code> structure (Attribute field
below, see <code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre"><shadow.h></span></code>):</p>
<table class="docutils align-default">
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 13%" />
<col style="width: 27%" />
<col style="width: 60%" />
</colgroup>
<thead>
<tr class="row-odd"><th class="head"><p>Index</p></th>
<th class="head"><p>Attribute</p></th>
<th class="head"><p>Meaning</p></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="row-even"><td><p>0</p></td>
<td><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sp_namp</span></code></p></td>
<td><p>Login name</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><p>1</p></td>
<td><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sp_pwdp</span></code></p></td>
<td><p>Encrypted password</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><p>2</p></td>
<td><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sp_lstchg</span></code></p></td>
<td><p>Date of last change</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><p>3</p></td>
<td><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sp_min</span></code></p></td>
<td><p>Minimal number of days between
changes</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><p>4</p></td>
<td><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sp_max</span></code></p></td>
<td><p>Maximum number of days between
changes</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><p>5</p></td>
<td><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sp_warn</span></code></p></td>
<td><p>Number of days before password
expires to warn user about it</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><p>6</p></td>
<td><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sp_inact</span></code></p></td>
<td><p>Number of days after password
expires until account is
disabled</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><p>7</p></td>
<td><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sp_expire</span></code></p></td>
<td><p>Number of days since 1970-01-01
when account expires</p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><p>8</p></td>
<td><p><code class="docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sp_flag</span></code></p></td>
<td><p>Reserved</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>The sp_namp and sp_pwdp items are strings, all others are integers.
<a class="reference internal" href="exceptions.html#KeyError" title="KeyError"><code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">KeyError</span></code></a> is raised if the entry asked for cannot be found.</p>
<p>The following functions are defined:</p>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="spwd.getspnam">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">spwd.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">getspnam</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><em class="sig-param"><span class="n"><span class="pre">name</span></span></em><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#spwd.getspnam" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Return the shadow password database entry for the given user name.</p>
<div class="versionchanged">
<p><span class="versionmodified changed">Changed in version 3.6: </span>Raises a <a class="reference internal" href="exceptions.html#PermissionError" title="PermissionError"><code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">PermissionError</span></code></a> instead of <a class="reference internal" href="exceptions.html#KeyError" title="KeyError"><code class="xref py py-exc docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">KeyError</span></code></a> if the user
doesn’t have privileges.</p>
</div>
</dd></dl>
<dl class="py function">
<dt class="sig sig-object py" id="spwd.getspall">
<span class="sig-prename descclassname"><span class="pre">spwd.</span></span><span class="sig-name descname"><span class="pre">getspall</span></span><span class="sig-paren">(</span><span class="sig-paren">)</span><a class="headerlink" href="#spwd.getspall" title="Permalink to this definition">¶</a></dt>
<dd><p>Return a list of all available shadow password database entries, in arbitrary
order.</p>
</dd></dl>
<div class="admonition seealso">
<p class="admonition-title">See also</p>
<dl class="simple">
<dt>Module <a class="reference internal" href="grp.html#module-grp" title="grp: The group database (getgrnam() and friends). (Unix)"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">grp</span></code></a></dt><dd><p>An interface to the group database, similar to this.</p>
</dd>
<dt>Module <a class="reference internal" href="pwd.html#module-pwd" title="pwd: The password database (getpwnam() and friends). (Unix)"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">pwd</span></code></a></dt><dd><p>An interface to the normal password database, similar to this.</p>
</dd>
</dl>
</div>
</section>
<div class="clearer"></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="sphinxsidebar" role="navigation" aria-label="main navigation">
<div class="sphinxsidebarwrapper">
<h4>Previous topic</h4>
<p class="topless"><a href="sndhdr.html"
title="previous chapter"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sndhdr</span></code> — Determine type of sound file</a></p>
<h4>Next topic</h4>
<p class="topless"><a href="sunau.html"
title="next chapter"><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">sunau</span></code> — Read and write Sun AU files</a></p>
<div role="note" aria-label="source link">
<h3>This Page</h3>
<ul class="this-page-menu">
<li><a href="../bugs.html">Report a Bug</a></li>
<li>
<a href="https://github.com/python/cpython/blob/3.10/Doc/library/spwd.rst"
rel="nofollow">Show Source
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="clearer"></div>
</div>
<div class="related" role="navigation" aria-label="related navigation">
<h3>Navigation</h3>
<ul>
<li class="right" style="margin-right: 10px">
<a href="../genindex.html" title="General Index"
>index</a></li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="../py-modindex.html" title="Python Module Index"
>modules</a> |</li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="sunau.html" title="sunau — Read and write Sun AU files"
>next</a> |</li>
<li class="right" >
<a href="sndhdr.html" title="sndhdr — Determine type of sound file"
>previous</a> |</li>
<li><img src="../_static/py.svg" alt="python logo" style="vertical-align: middle; margin-top: -1px"/></li>
<li><a href="https://www.python.org/">Python</a> »</li>
<li class="switchers">
<div class="language_switcher_placeholder"></div>
<div class="version_switcher_placeholder"></div>
</li>
<li>
</li>
<li id="cpython-language-and-version">
<a href="../index.html">3.10.12 Documentation</a> »
</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-1"><a href="index.html" >The Python Standard Library</a> »</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-2"><a href="superseded.html" >Superseded Modules</a> »</li>
<li class="nav-item nav-item-this"><a href=""><code class="xref py py-mod docutils literal notranslate"><span class="pre">spwd</span></code> — The shadow password database</a></li>
<li class="right">
<div class="inline-search" role="search">
<form class="inline-search" action="../search.html" method="get">
<input placeholder="Quick search" aria-label="Quick search" type="text" name="q" />
<input type="submit" value="Go" />
<input type="hidden" name="check_keywords" value="yes" />
<input type="hidden" name="area" value="default" />
</form>
</div>
|
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="footer">
© <a href="../copyright.html">Copyright</a> 2001-2025, Python Software Foundation.
<br />
This page is licensed under the Python Software Foundation License Version 2.
<br />
Examples, recipes, and other code in the documentation are additionally licensed under the Zero Clause BSD License.
<br />
See <a href="/license.html">History and License</a> for more information.<br />
<br />
The Python Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation.
<a href="https://www.python.org/psf/donations/">Please donate.</a>
<br />
<br />
Last updated on August 15, 2025.
<a href="/bugs.html">Found a bug</a>?
<br />
Created using <a href="https://www.sphinx-doc.org/">Sphinx</a> 4.3.2.
</div>
</body>
</html>