getent(1) General Commands Manual getent(1)
NAME
getent - get entries from Name Service Switch libraries
SYNOPSIS
getent [option]... database key...
DESCRIPTION
The getent command displays entries from databases supported by the
Name Service Switch libraries, which are configured in /etc/nss-
witch.conf. If one or more key arguments are provided, then only the
entries that match the supplied keys will be displayed. Otherwise, if
no key is provided, all entries will be displayed (unless the database
does not support enumeration).
The database may be any of those supported by the GNU C Library, listed
below:
ahosts When no key is provided, use sethostent(3), gethostent(3), and
endhostent(3) to enumerate the hosts database. This is identi-
cal to using hosts(5). When one or more key arguments are pro-
vided, pass each key in succession to getaddrinfo(3) with the
address family AF_UNSPEC, enumerating each socket address struc-
ture returned.
ahostsv4
Same as ahosts, but use the address family AF_INET.
ahostsv6
Same as ahosts, but use the address family AF_INET6. The call
to getaddrinfo(3) in this case includes the AI_V4MAPPED flag.
aliases
When no key is provided, use setaliasent(3), getaliasent(3), and
endaliasent(3) to enumerate the aliases database. When one or
more key arguments are provided, pass each key in succession to
getaliasbyname(3) and display the result.
ethers When one or more key arguments are provided, pass each key in
succession to ether_aton(3) and ether_hostton(3) until a result
is obtained, and display the result. Enumeration is not sup-
ported on ethers, so a key must be provided.
group When no key is provided, use setgrent(3), getgrent(3), and end-
grent(3) to enumerate the group database. When one or more key
arguments are provided, pass each numeric key to getgrgid(3) and
each nonnumeric key to getgrnam(3) and display the result.
gshadow
When no key is provided, use setsgent(3), getsgent(3), and ends-
gent(3) to enumerate the gshadow database. When one or more key
arguments are provided, pass each key in succession to getsg-
nam(3) and display the result.
hosts When no key is provided, use sethostent(3), gethostent(3), and
endhostent(3) to enumerate the hosts database. When one or more
key arguments are provided, pass each key to gethostbyaddr(3) or
gethostbyname2(3), depending on whether a call to inet_pton(3)
indicates that the key is an IPv6 or IPv4 address or not, and
display the result.
initgroups
When one or more key arguments are provided, pass each key in
succession to getgrouplist(3) and display the result. Enumera-
tion is not supported on initgroups, so a key must be provided.
netgroup
When one key is provided, pass the key to setnetgrent(3) and,
using getnetgrent(3) display the resulting string triple (host-
name, username, domainname). Alternatively, three keys may be
provided, which are interpreted as the hostname, username, and
domainname to match to a netgroup name via innetgr(3). Enumera-
tion is not supported on netgroup, so either one or three keys
must be provided.
networks
When no key is provided, use setnetent(3), getnetent(3), and
endnetent(3) to enumerate the networks database. When one or
more key arguments are provided, pass each numeric key to get-
netbyaddr(3) and each nonnumeric key to getnetbyname(3) and dis-
play the result.
passwd When no key is provided, use setpwent(3), getpwent(3), and endp-
went(3) to enumerate the passwd database. When one or more key
arguments are provided, pass each numeric key to getpwuid(3) and
each nonnumeric key to getpwnam(3) and display the result.
protocols
When no key is provided, use setprotoent(3), getprotoent(3), and
endprotoent(3) to enumerate the protocols database. When one or
more key arguments are provided, pass each numeric key to get-
protobynumber(3) and each nonnumeric key to getprotobyname(3)
and display the result.
rpc When no key is provided, use setrpcent(3), getrpcent(3), and en-
drpcent(3) to enumerate the rpc database. When one or more key
arguments are provided, pass each numeric key to getrpcbynum-
ber(3) and each nonnumeric key to getrpcbyname(3) and display
the result.
services
When no key is provided, use setservent(3), getservent(3), and
endservent(3) to enumerate the services database. When one or
more key arguments are provided, pass each numeric key to get-
servbynumber(3) and each nonnumeric key to getservbyname(3) and
display the result.
shadow When no key is provided, use setspent(3), getspent(3), and end-
spent(3) to enumerate the shadow database. When one or more key
arguments are provided, pass each key in succession to getsp-
nam(3) and display the result.
OPTIONS
--service service
-s service
Override all databases with the specified service. (Since glibc
2.2.5.)
--service database:service
-s database:service
Override only specified databases with the specified service.
The option may be used multiple times, but only the last service
for each database will be used. (Since glibc 2.4.)
--no-idn
-i Disables IDN encoding in lookups for ahosts/getaddrinfo(3)
(Since glibc-2.13.)
--help
-? Print a usage summary and exit.
--usage
Print a short usage summary and exit.
--version
-V Print the version number, license, and disclaimer of warranty
for getent.
EXIT STATUS
One of the following exit values can be returned by getent:
0 Command completed successfully.
1 Missing arguments, or database unknown.
2 One or more supplied key could not be found in the database.
3 Enumeration not supported on this database.
SEE ALSO
nsswitch.conf(5)
Linux man-pages 6.7 2023-11-01 getent(1)
Generated by dwww version 1.16 on Tue Dec 16 14:48:27 CET 2025.