Manual: getent
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 configā
ured 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 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 identical to using hosts(5). 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.
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 dataā
base. When one or more key arguments are provided, pass each key in succession to getaliasbyname(3) and disā
play 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 supported on ethers, so a key must be
provided.
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 getgrā
nam(3) and display the result.
gshadow
When no key is provided, use setsgent(3), getsgent(3), and endsgent(3) to enumerate the gshadow database.
When one or more key arguments are provided, pass each key in succession to getsgnam(3) and display the reā
sult.
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. Enumeration 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 (hostname, username, domainname). Alternatively, three keys may be provided, which are interā
preted as the hostname, username, and domainname to match to a netgroup name via innetgr(3). Enumeration 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 getnetbyaddr(3) and each nonnumeric key
to getnetbyname(3) and display the result.
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 getpwā
nam(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 getprotobynumber(3) and each
nonnumeric key to getprotobyname(3) and display the result.
rpc When no key is provided, use setrpcent(3), getrpcent(3), and endrpcent(3) to enumerate the rpc database. When
one or more key arguments are provided, pass each numeric key to getrpcbynumber(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 dataā
base. When one or more key arguments are provided, pass each numeric key to getservbynumber(3) and each nonā
numeric key to getservbyname(3) and display the result.
shadow When no key is provided, use setspent(3), getspent(3), and endspent(3) to enumerate the shadow database. When
one or more key arguments are provided, pass each key in succession to getspnam(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 6.17 2026-02-08 getent(1)