[lug] back up /etc/passwd

[Jeff Schroeder]

jd wrote:

>  If I wanted to back up my users passwds in case of need for
> reinstall , could I just copy /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow ?
> Is it common practice for a web serving company to keep a
> list (unencryp) of user passwds for disaster recovery?

You'd probably want to include /etc/group as well, since that contains 
all the group permissions.

While keeping user login data for disaster recovery is undoubtably a 
good idea, I don't think a list of unencrypted passwords is necessary.  
The three /etc files are sufficient to restore permissions, and if the 
users ever forgot their password you could (as root) reset it for 
them... assuming, of course, you are the "web serving company" and have 
root access on the server (which I assume you do, since you're planning 
for disaster recovery).

HTH,
Jeff