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/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 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
	      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 getgrnam(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 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.
	      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 interpreted 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 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
	      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 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.

       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 6.15		  2025-05-17			     getent(1)