---
title: About the passwd Resource
platform: linux
---

# passwd

Use the `passwd` Chef InSpec audit resource to test the contents of `/etc/passwd`, which contains the following information for users that may log into the system and/or as users that own running processes. The format for `/etc/passwd` includes:

* A username
* The password for that user (on newer systems passwords should be stored in `/etc/shadow` )
* The user identifier (UID) assigned to that user
* The group identifier (GID) assigned to that user
* Additional information about that user
* That user's home directory
* That user's default command shell

These entries are defined as a colon-delimited row in the file, one row per user:

    root:x:1234:5678:additional_info:/home/dir/:/bin/bash

<br>

## Availability

### Installation

This resource is distributed along with Chef InSpec itself. You can use it automatically.

### Version

This resource first became available in v1.0.0 of InSpec.

## Syntax

A `passwd` resource block declares one (or more) users and associated user information to be tested:

    describe passwd do
      its('users') { should_not include 'forbidden_user' }
    end

    describe passwd.uids(filter) do
      its('users') { should cmp 'root' }
      its('count') { should eq 1 }
    end

where

* `homes`, `gids`, `passwords`, `shells`, `uids`, and `users` are valid accessors for `passwd`
* `filter` one (or more) arguments, for example: `passwd.users(/name/)` used to define filtering
* `filter` may take any of the following arguments: `count` (retrieves the number of entries), `lines` (provides raw `passwd` lines), and `params` (returns an array of maps for all entries)

<br>

## Examples

The following examples show how to use this Chef InSpec audit resource.

### Test usernames and UIDs

    describe passwd do
      its('users') { should eq ['root', 'www-data'] }
      its('uids') { should eq [0, 33] }
    end

### Select one user and test for multiple occurrences

    describe passwd.uids(0) do
      its('users') { should cmp 'root' }
      its('count') { should eq 1 }
    end

    describe passwd.where { user == 'www-data' } do
      its('uids') { should cmp 33 }
      its('count') { should eq 1 }
    end

<br>

## Matchers

For a full list of available matchers, please visit our [matchers page](https://www.inspec.io/docs/reference/matchers/).

### gids

The `gids` matcher tests if the group indentifiers in the test match group identifiers in `/etc/passwd`:

    its('gids') { should include 1234 }
    its('gids') { should cmp 0 }

### homes

The `homes` matcher tests the absolute path to a user's home directory:

    its('home') { should eq '/' }

### length

The `length` matcher tests the length of a password that appears in `/etc/passwd`:

    its('length') { should be <= 32 }

This matcher is best used in conjunction with filters. For example:

    describe passwd.users('highlander') do
       its('length') { should_not be < 16 }
    end

### passwords

The `passwords` matcher tests if passwords are

* Encrypted
* Have direct logins disabled, as indicated by an asterisk (`*`)
* In the `/etc/shadow` file, as indicated by the letter x (`x`)

For example:

    its('passwords') { should eq ['x'] }
    its('passwords') { should cmp '*' }

### shells

The `shells` matcher tests the absolute path of a shell (or command) to which a user has access:

    its('shells') { should_not include 'user' }

or to find all users with the nologin shell:

    describe passwd.shells(/nologin/) do
      its('users') { should_not include 'my_login_user' }
    end

### uids

The `uids` matcher tests if the user indentifiers in the test match user identifiers in `/etc/passwd`:

    its('uids') { should eq ['1234', '1235'] }

or:

    describe passwd.uids(0) do
      its('users') { should cmp 'root' }
      its('count') { should eq 1 }
    end

### users

The `users` matcher tests if the user names in the test match user names in `/etc/passwd`:

    its('users') { should eq ['root', 'www-data'] }