Proper way to query user and group database on a Unix host?

[Mike MacCana]

Hi folks,

What's the proper way to query the passwd and group database on a Unix
host?

I'd like to fetch the users in a group (obviously from name services),
but my many varied searches can't find any reference of someone ever
looking up users on a Unix system, just NT. Weird, I know.

Currently I'm calling the getent command, which works well enough, but
surely there's a more Pythonic method of looking up OS user and group
data ...

## Get the full group database entry, leave just the user list, and split the list on comma
groupname=users
groupsusers = commands.getout put('getent group '+groupname).sp lit(':',-1)[3].split(',')


Cheers,

Mike

_______________ _______________ _______________ ___
Mike MacCana
Technical Specialist
Australia Linux and Virtualisation Services

IBM Global Services
Level 14, 60 City Rd
Southgate Vic 3000

Phone: +61-3-8656-2138
Fax: +61-3-8656-2423
Email: mmaccana@au1.ib m.com

[Chris Brannon]

Re: Proper way to query user and group database on a Unix host?

Mike MacCana <mmaccana@au1.i bm.comwrites:

Hi folks,
>
What's the proper way to query the passwd and group database on a Unix
host?

Use the pwd and grp modules, respectively.

## Get the full group database entry, leave just the user list,
## and split the list on comma
groupname=users
groupsusers = commands.getout put('getent group '+groupname).sp lit(':',-1)[3].split(',')

Instead, do this:

import grp
groupname = 'users'
groupusers = grp.getgrnam(gr oupname)[3]
print 'The group named "users" contains:'
for username in groupusers:
print username

The functions from the grp and pwd modules return tuples. The docs describe
their formats.

Hope this helps,
-- Chris

[Sebastian \lunar\ Wiesner]

Re: Proper way to query user and group database on a Unix host?

Chris Brannon <cmbrannon@cox. net>:

Iirc since Python 2.5 these tuples are named ...

Instead, do this:
>
import grp
groupname = 'users'
groupusers = grp.getgrnam(gr oupname)[3]

.... thus this line could be written as:

groupusers = grp.getgrnam(gr oupname).gr_mem

Slightly more readable, imho



--
Freedom is always the freedom of dissenters.
(Rosa Luxemburg)

[Guilherme Polo]

Re: Proper way to query user and group database on a Unix host?

On Wed, Jul 23, 2008 at 9:16 AM, Sebastian lunar Wiesner
<basti.wiesner@ gmx.netwrote:

Chris Brannon <cmbrannon@cox. net>:
>
Iirc since Python 2.5 these tuples are named ...
>

>Instead, do this:
>>
>import grp
>groupname = 'users'
>groupusers = grp.getgrnam(gr oupname)[3]

... thus this line could be written as:
>
groupusers = grp.getgrnam(gr oupname).gr_mem
>

That is valid since Python 2.3 actually

Slightly more readable, imho
>
>
>
--
Freedom is always the freedom of dissenters.
(Rosa Luxemburg)
--

http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list

>

--
-- Guilherme H. Polo Goncalves

[Sebastian \lunar\ Wiesner]

Re: Proper way to query user and group database on a Unix host?

Guilherme Polo <ggpolo@gmail.c om>:

On Wed, Jul 23, 2008 at 9:16 AM, Sebastian lunar Wiesner
<basti.wiesner@ gmx.netwrote:

>Chris Brannon <cmbrannon@cox. net>:
>>
>Iirc since Python 2.5 these tuples are named ...
>>

>>Instead, do this:
>>>
>>import grp
>>groupname = 'users'
>>groupusers = grp.getgrnam(gr oupname)[3]

>... thus this line could be written as:
>>
>groupusers = grp.getgrnam(gr oupname).gr_mem
>>

>
That is valid since Python 2.3 actually

Thanks for clarification


--
Freedom is always the freedom of dissenters.
(Rosa Luxemburg)