THE PASSWORD FILE
=================

The format of the password file $PASSWD is compatible with UNIX.
Every line of the password file describes one "user" on the system
and consists of seven colon-separated fields:

	login name
	encrypted password
	user ID (number)
	group ID (number)
	real name
	home directory
	shell

Not every "user" must correspond to a real person. For example, if
you have a file server (see fileserv(1)), you need a login name
for that.

- login name
	
	This is the "name" of user. The user needs it to identify himself
	to the LOGIN and GUS programs. It is also part of his electronic
	mail address (the other parts being name and domain of the host
	computer). Conventionally, login names are between two and eight
	characters in length. Usually, there are all lower-case letters
	and/or digits, with the first character a letter. This is not
	mandatory, however; Hermes accepts up the 16 characters, and they
	need not be chosen from [0-9a-z].
	
- encrypted password

	The encrypted password may only be changed with the PASSWD program
	(see passwd(1)). Only exception: You can delete the password from
	the password file, leaving an empty field (to adjacent colons).
	Login names that do not have passwords associated with them are
	inaccessible for non-local logins (i e logins over the AUX or MIDI
	lines).
	
- used ID

	Under UNIX, the main purpose of the password file is to map login
	names and user ids. This is not the case with Hermes, which (for
	the most part) uses login names directly. The only significance
	this field has for Hermes is that any user with user ID 0 (zero)
	can change other people's passwords with the passwd program.

	It may be a good idea to assign unique user IDs to login names
	anyhow (but see below).
	
- group ID

	This field must contain a group ID, as in UNIX, but the group
	ID is not actually used by Hermes yet.
	
- real name

	Under UNIX, this field is called the GCOS or comment field.
	Hermes expects to find the real name of the user in this
	field, as does much UNIX software.
	
- home directory

	Every user must have a home directory (customarily under \HOME
	on the Hermes partition). You can use either slashes or
	backslashes, and you can (and should) prefix the name with
	the drive letter and a colon. If the second character of this
	field is a colon, it is treated as a drive letter rather than
	as a field separator.
	
- shell

	The program that will be started if the users logs in via the
	LOGIN program. If no path is given, it will be searched on
	the $PATH. You can give the full path name, including the
	drive letter, as with the home directory.
	
UUCP POLL LOGINS AND THE PASSWORD FILE

If you want to let other computers call your computer, you must
assign login names to those computers. The following rules
and suggestions apply to such login names:

- Each calling system needs a separare login name. Anonymous UUCP
  counts as one system.
  
- The login name must be a single character (usually 'U'), followed
  by the UUCP name of the computer. E g, the login name for the computer
  "heaven7" should be "Uheaven7". Use the site name "NUUCP" for
  anonymous UUCP, giving the login name "UNUUCP".
  
- All UUCP login names should have the same user ID and the same group
  ID, neither of which should be used for other users. (This is a
  suggestion.)
  
- The home directory must be the spool directory of the calling computer
  (see xhosts(4)).
  
- The shell must be the UUCICO program. The name portion must be "UUCICO"
  (either case). Even if the program is a UUCICO program, it will not
  work unless the program is called "UUCICO". You can, however, supply
  drive, path, and extension.
