GETPWENT Section: Linux Programmer's Manual (3) Updated: May 27, 2025 Index   NAME getpwent, setpwent, endpwent - get password file entry   SYNOPSIS #include <pwd.h> #include <sys/types.h> struct passwd *getpwent(void); void setpwent(void); void endpwent(void);   DESCRIPTION The getpwent() function returns a pointer to a structure containing the broken out fields of a line from /etc/passwd. The first time it is called it returns the first entry; thereafter, it returns successive entries. The setpwent() function rewinds the file pointer to the beginning of the /etc/passwd file. The endpwent() function closes the /etc/passwd file. The passwd structure is defined in <pwd.h> as follows: struct passwd { char *pw_name; /* user name */ char *pw_passwd; /* user password */ uid_t pw_uid; /* user id */ gid_t pw_gid; /* group id */ char *pw_gecos; /* real name */ char *pw_dir; /* home directory */ char *pw_shell; /* shell program */ };   RETURN VALUE The getpwent() function returns the passwd structure, or NULL if there are no more entries or an error occurs.   ERRORS ENOMEM Insufficient memory to allocate passwd structure.   FILES /etc/passwd password database file   CONFORMING TO SVID 3, BSD 4.3   SEE ALSO   Index NAME SYNOPSIS DESCRIPTION RETURN VALUE ERRORS FILES CONFORMING TO SEE ALSO This document was created by using the manual pages. Time: 11:58:06 GMT, March 24, 2025