Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cwjcc!mailrus!uwmcsd1!marque!uunet!mcvax!hp4nl!rivm!ccea3 From: ccea3@rivm.UUCP (Adri Verhoef) Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards Subject: A User Database Keywords: /etc/passwd /etc/group mailaliases Message-ID: <1175@rivm05.UUCP> Date: 6 Dec 88 20:19:17 GMT Organization: RIVM, Bilthoven, The Netherlands Lines: 55 A User Database system was to be set up at the Duke University. Unfortunately, their user database system "has died a slow agonizing death. A combination of politics, overworked staff and students, and hardware priorities has left the project on the back burner, without the burner even turned on.", so Neil G. Sullivansays. What user services do I want? A simple system for account maintenance under Unix. The system would be a database, which keeps track of current users on all machines. On one machine we would like to have a general user database. This database should contain all loginnames from all the password files. The database should contain (for each record): - the loginname; - the machinenames on which the loginname exists; - (probably) the password's age (but not necessary); - if possible, the machine where the loginname usually will receive mail. - the user ID (which must be unique with respect to the loginname); - the full user name (GCOS field); - the groupname, and - the group-ID (these last two ones should always be the same). An alternative would be to keep the group-IDs in a Group Database, for we would like to know on which machines this groupname exists as well, in which case this Group Database could contain: - groupname (Alphanumerical) - group-ID (Numerical) - full explanation of the groupname - on which machines the group exists Since all UIDs should be unique, the Database system should tell me which UID and GID I should use, when I want to add a loginname on a machine. When a loginname is deleted, the UID should be kept around in the database until a certain number, say 10000, is reached. After that, new users will get an unused UID between 100 and that number. This would be very useful to system managers. Of which I am one. At the moment we have some programs that handle user accounts and inactive users at every machine, but we don't have a user database that consists of all the important information from all the password files throughout the organization. We have a network that relies on UUCP connections. Our environment consists currently of about 620 users, and 3x VAX 11/750 8x 3B2 (at least) 1x Altos 986 12x microVAX 2x PDP 11/73 1x M380 i80386 2x VAX-3600 Sincerely, Adri Verhoef, mcvax!rivm!a3