System directories and files

Files in /etc

The following files are used in machine-specific configuration and system administration databases.

/etc/boot

The /etc/boot file is a backup copy of the hard disk bootstrap. See the discussion of the -b option of disksetup(1M).

/etc/cshrc

The /etc/cshrc file contains startup commands to be run by csh(1). For csh users, this file is conceptually the same as /etc/profile is for sh(1) and ksh(1) users.

/etc/datemsk

This file describes how to parse dates to the obsolescent getdate(3C) routine.

/etc/d_passwd

This optional file contains a list of programs that will require dial-up passwords when run from login(1). This file will be present if the system administrator has created it as a means of requiring an additional password that must be entered when users attempt to login from the devices found in /etc/dialups.

Each line in the file is formatted as

   program:encrypted_password:
where program is the full path to any programs into which a user can log in and run. The password referred to in the encrypted_password is the one that will be used by the dial-up password program. This password must be entered before the user is given the login prompt. It is used in conjunction with the file /etc/dialups. (See ``Setting passwords for dial-in lines'' for more information on creating dial-up passwords.)

/etc/device.tab

This file is the device table. It lists the device alias, path to the vnode, and special attributes of every device connected to the computer.

/etc/devnm.path

This file lists the device search path used by devnm(1M).

/etc/devlock.tab

This file is created at run time and lists the reserved (locked) devices. Device reservations do not remain intact across system reboots.

/etc/dfs/dfstab

This file specifies the Network Filesystem® (NFS®) resources from your machine that are automatically shared to remote machines when entering networking mode (system state 3). Each entry in this file must be a share(1M) command line.

/etc/dgroup.tab

This file lists the group or groups to which a device belongs.

/etc/dialups

This file contains a list of terminal devices that cannot be accessed without a dial-up password. This file will be present if the system administrator has created it as a means of requiring an additional password that must be entered when users attempt to login from the devices listed in it. It is used in conjunction with the file /etc/d_passwd. (See ``Setting passwords for dial-in lines'' for more information on creating dial-up passwords.)

/etc/emulator

This file contains the Intel 80387 Floating Point Emulator.

/etc/group

This file describes each user group to the system. An entry is added for each new group with the groupadd(1M) command.

/etc/imapd

This file contains configuration information for the IMAP (Internet Mail Access Protocol) services.

/etc/inittab

This file contains instructions for the init(1M) command. The instructions define the processes created or stopped for each initialization state. Initialization states are called system states or run states. By convention, system state 1 (or S or s) is single-user state; system state 2 is multi-user state and system state 3 is networking state. ``Customizing UNIX system startup'' summarizes the various system states and describes their uses. See inittab(4).

/etc/ioctl.syscon

This file contains saved console terminal settings used by init(1M).

/etc/mail/aliases

The /etc/mail/aliases file contains mail alias information for the local machine. See aliases(4) for more information.

/etc/mail/mailx.rc

This file contains defaults for mailx(1). It may be added by the system administrator. See mailx(1).

/etc/issue

This file contains the message presented at each login prompt.

/etc/libc_shells

This file gives the pathnames and preferences for the shells usable from the C library APIs, such as system(3S) and popen(3S). Each pathname is prefixed with a category indicating the shell variation and a number, where smaller is preferred.

The shell variation is indicated by a single byte, where currently only b (for Bourne) and k (for Korn) are explicitly looked for in the C library. The prefix is separated from the pathname by a colon.

When system() is called, for example, if the value of the environment variable SHELL matches on of the pathnames in /etc/libc_shells, then the preferred shell pathnames with the same variation are used.

/etc/links

This file is pointed to by /usr/sbin/link and /usr/sbin/unlink. It gives direct access to the raw link(2) and unlink(2) system calls, and is needed when the ln(1) command checks are to be bypassed. Use with care, especially by the root login.

/etc/loadmods

This file contains a list of kernel modules to be loaded at system startup. It is typically used for HBAs (Host Bus Adapters).

/etc/magic

This file contains a list of file magic numbers recognized by the file(1) command.

/etc/mailcap

The /etc/mailcap file (short for ``mail capabilities'') is used by mailx(1) when a user wants to display MIME message attachments. It maps MIME types to programs that know how to display, print, or edit those MIME types.

/etc/mime.types

This file is the system-wide file extension to MIME-type mapping.

/etc/mnttab

This file contains a list of currently-mounted filesystems.

/etc/motd

This file contains the message of the day. The message of the day is displayed on a user's screen after that user has successfully logged in. (The commands that produce this output on the screen are in the /etc/profile file.) Keep this message short and to the point. Use the /var/news directory and the news(1) command for lengthy messages.

/etc/netconfig

This file is the network configuration database file. It contains information about where to find name-to-address lookup routines for each type of network listed. See netconfig(4bnu) for more information.

/etc/netid

This file is a database file mapping RPC network names to UNIX credentials.

/etc/nodename

This file is used by setuname(1M) to remember the system's network node name across reboots.

/etc/Odevice.tab

This file is a copy of the previous /etc/device.tab file.

/etc/ogroup

This file is a copy of the previous /etc/group file.

/etc/old.tab

This file is a backup copy of /etc/device.tab.

/etc/oshadow

This file is a copy of the previous /etc/shadow file.

/etc/Ovfstab

This file is a copy of the previous /etc/vfstab file.

/etc/passwd

This file identifies each user to the system. An entry is automatically added for each new user with the useradd(1M) command, removed with the userdel(1M) command, and modified with the usermod(1M) command.

/etc/popper

This file is the configuration file for POP3 mailbox download services.

/etc/profile

This file contains the default profile for all users. The standard (default) environment for all users is established by the instructions in the /etc/profile file. The system administrator can change this file to set options for the root login. For example, the six lines of code shown in ``Excerpt from /etc/profile'' can be added to /etc/profile. This code defines the erase character, automatically identifies the terminal type, and sets the TERM variable when the login name is root.

   if [ ${LOGNAME} = root ]
       then
           stty echoe
           TERM=AT386
           export TERM
      fi

Excerpt from /etc/profile

/etc/ps_data

This file is a temporary file used by ps(1).

/etc/publickey

This file is the public key database used for secure RPC. See publickey(4bnu) for more information.

/etc/resolv.conf

This file is the resolver configuration file. The operating system uses it to define the domain the system is in, the domain search order for resolving partially qualified names, and the nameserver(s) to use for name resolution.

/etc/rmtab

This file contains a list of all clients that have remotely mounted a filesystem from host, saved across crashes. See showmount(1Mnfs) for more information.

/etc/rpc

This file contains a mapping of RPC program numbers to human-readable names. See rpc(4tcp) for more information.

/etc/rpc.preTED

This file is a copy of /etc/rpc made before the TED entry is added by desktop installation scripts.

/etc/saf/pmtag/_config

This file contains a configuration script used to customize the environment for the port monitor tagged as pmtag (such as /etc/saf/tcp/_config for the tcp port monitor). Port monitor configuration scripts are optional.

/etc/saf/pmtag/_pmtab

This is the administrative file for the port monitor tagged as pmtag. It contains an entry for each service available through the pmtag port monitor.

/etc/saf/_sactab

This file contains information about all port monitors for which the Service Access Controller (SAC) is responsible.

/etc/saf/_sysconfig

This file contains a configuration script to customize the environments for all port monitors on the system. This per-system configuration file is optional.

/etc/sendmail.cf

This file is a configuration file for sendmail(1M).

/etc/sendmail.pid

This file is a temporary file used by sendmail(1M) to store its process ID for locking purposes.

/etc/shadow

This file contains password information for all users. It should not be modified directly, but rather, use passwd(1), useradd(1M), userdel(1M), or usermod(1M), as appropriate.

/etc/socket.conf

This file indicates which STREAMS modules should be pushed when a socket is opened with the indicated parameters, for example, a socket opened as address family AF_INET and type SOCK_STREAM will open /dev/tcp and push isocket and sockmod.

/etc/state

This file is used by statd(1Mnfs) and lockd(1Mnfs) to provide crash and recovery functions for the locking services on NFS®.

/etc/stdprofile

This file contains the standard template for .profile files. It is copied into home directories for new users.

/etc/swaptab

This file contains a list of swap devices to be automatically added by swap -c at system startup.

/etc/syslog.conf

This file is a configuration file for syslogd(1M).

/etc/syslog.pid

This file is a temporary file used by syslogd(1M) to store its process ID for locking purposes.

/etc/TIMEZONE

This file sets and exports the time zone shell variable TZ. The TZ variable can be redefined on a user (login) basis by setting the variable in the associated .profile. The TIMEZONE file is executed by /sbin/rc2. See timezone(4).

/etc/ttydefs

This file contains information used by ttymon port monitor to set the terminal modes and baud rate for a TTY port. See ``The Service Access Facility'' for more information.

/etc/ttysrch

This file lists the names of directories in /dev that contain terminal and terminal-related device files. It is used by ttyname(3C) to improve performance.

/etc/ttytype

This file is used to set terminal types automatically at login. It maps serial ports (such as /dev/tty00) to their corresponding terminal type (such as ``ansi''). See tset(1) for more information.

/etc/unixtsa.conf

This file is the default configuration file that lists NetWare servers with which to register the protocol to use for each server. See tsad(1) for more information.

/etc/vfstab

This file provides default values for filesystems and remote resources. The following information can be stored in this file:

These defaults do not override command line arguments that have been entered manually. See mountall(1M). ``Sample /etc/vfstab file'' shows a sample of this file.
#special             fsckdev               mountp             fstype  fsckpass automnt mntflags
/dev/root            /dev/rroot            /                  vxfs    1        no      mincache=closesync      SYS_RANGE_MAX
/dev/dsk/c0b0t0d0s4  /dev/rdsk/c0b0t0d0s4  /home              vxfs    1        yes     mincache=closesync      SYS_RANGE_MAX
/dev/dsk/c0b0t0d0sa  /dev/rdsk/c0b0t0d0sa  /stand             bfs     1        no      -                       SYS_RANGE_MAX
/dev/dsk/c0b0t0d0sc  /dev/rdsk/c0b0t0d0sc  /home2             vxfs    1        yes     mincache=closesync      SYS_RANGE_MAX
/proc                -                     /proc              proc    -        no      -
/processorfs         -                     /system/processor  profs   -        yes     -
/dev/fd              -                     /dev/fd            fdfs    -        no      -
/dev/dsk/f0t         /dev/rdsk/f0t         /install           s5      -        no      -
/dev/dsk/f1t         /dev/rdsk/f1t         /install           s5      -        no      -
/dev/dsk/f0          /dev/rdsk/f0          /install           s5      -        no      -
/dev/dsk/f1          /dev/rdsk/f1          /install           s5      -        no      -
/tmp                 -                     /tmp               memfs   -        yes     swapmax=10485760,rootmode=1777
/var/tmp             -                     /var/tmp           memfs   -        yes     swapmax=31457280,rootmode=1777

Sample /etc/vfstab file

/etc/vfstab.prevm

This file is a backup copy of /etc/vfstab, saved when ODM (Online Data Manager) is installed.


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© 1999 The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. All rights reserved.
UnixWare 7 Release 7.1.1 - 5 November 1999