GETENT(1)

NAME
getent - get entries from Name Service Switch libraries

SYNOPSIS
getent database [key ...]

DESCRIPTION
The getent command displays entries from databases supported by the Name Service Switch libraries, which are configured in /etc/nsswitch.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 Cygwin Library, listed below:

    ahosts
        When one or more key arguments are provided, pass each key in succession to getaddrinfo(3) with the address family AF_UNSPEC, enumerating each socket address structure returned. Enumeration is not supported on ahosts, so a key must be provided.

    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.

    group
        When no key is provided, use setgrent(3), getgrent(3), and endgrent(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. On Cygwin the key can also be a Windows SID.

    hosts
        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. Enumeration is not supported on hosts, so a key must be provided.

    initgroups
        When one or more key arguments are provided, pass each key in succession to getgrouplist(3) and display the result. Enumeration is not supported on initgroups, so a key must be provided.

    passwd
        When no key is provided, use setpwent(3), getpwent(3), and endpwent(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. On Cygwin the key can also be a Windows SID.

    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 getprotobynumber(3) and each nonnumeric key to getprotobyname(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 getservbynumber(3) and each nonnumeric key to getservbyname(3) and display the result.

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)

COLOPHON
This page is an excerpt of the getent man page from release 3.53 of the Linux man-pages project, matched to the capabilities of Cygwin. A description of the project, and information about reporting bugs, can be found at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.