# phpman > info > GETENT [GETENT(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/GETENT/1/markdown) User Commands [GETENT(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/GETENT/1/markdown) 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/nss- witch.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)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/sethostent/3/markdown), [gethostent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/gethostent/3/markdown), and [endhostent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/endhostent/3/markdown) to enumerate the hosts database. This is identical to using hosts. When one or more key argu- ments are provided, pass each key in succession to getad- [drinfo(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/drinfo/3/markdown) 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)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getaddrinfo/3/markdown) in this case includes the AI_V4MAPPED flag. aliases When no key is provided, use [setaliasent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/setaliasent/3/markdown), getal- [iasent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/iasent/3/markdown), and [endaliasent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/endaliasent/3/markdown) to enumerate the aliases database. When one or more key arguments are provided, pass each key in succession to [getaliasbyname(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getaliasbyname/3/markdown) and dis- play the result. ethers When one or more key arguments are provided, pass each key in succession to [ether_aton(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/etheraton/3/markdown) and [ether_hostton(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/etherhostton/3/markdown) 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)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/setgrent/3/markdown), [getgrent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getgrent/3/markdown), and [endgrent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/endgrent/3/markdown) to enumerate the group database. When one or more key arguments are provided, pass each numeric key to [getgrgid(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getgrgid/3/markdown) and each nonnumeric key to [getgrnam(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getgrnam/3/markdown) and display the result. gshadow When no key is provided, use [setsgent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/setsgent/3/markdown), [getsgent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getsgent/3/markdown), and [endsgent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/endsgent/3/markdown) to enumerate the gshadow database. When one or more key arguments are provided, pass each key in suc- cession to [getsgnam(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getsgnam/3/markdown) and display the result. hosts When no key is provided, use [sethostent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/sethostent/3/markdown), [gethostent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/gethostent/3/markdown), and [endhostent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/endhostent/3/markdown) to enumerate the hosts database. When one or more key arguments are provided, pass each key to [gethostbyaddr(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/gethostbyaddr/3/markdown) or [gethostbyname2(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/gethostbyname2/3/markdown), depending on whether a call to [inet_pton(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/inetpton/3/markdown) 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)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getgrouplist/3/markdown) 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)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/setnetgrent/3/markdown) and, using [getnetgrent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getnetgrent/3/markdown) 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)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/innetgr/3/markdown). Enumeration is not supported on net- group, so either one or three keys must be provided. networks When no key is provided, use [setnetent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/setnetent/3/markdown), [getnetent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getnetent/3/markdown), and [endnetent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/endnetent/3/markdown) to enumerate the networks database. When one or more key arguments are provided, pass each numeric key to [getnetbyaddr(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getnetbyaddr/3/markdown) and each nonnumeric key to getnet- [byname(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/byname/3/markdown) and display the result. passwd When no key is provided, use [setpwent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/setpwent/3/markdown), [getpwent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getpwent/3/markdown), and [endpwent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/endpwent/3/markdown) to enumerate the passwd database. When one or more key arguments are provided, pass each numeric key to [getpwuid(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getpwuid/3/markdown) and each nonnumeric key to [getpwnam(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getpwnam/3/markdown) and display the result. protocols When no key is provided, use [setprotoent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/setprotoent/3/markdown), getpro- [toent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/toent/3/markdown), and [endprotoent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/endprotoent/3/markdown) to enumerate the protocols database. When one or more key arguments are provided, pass each numeric key to [getprotobynumber(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getprotobynumber/3/markdown) and each non- numeric key to [getprotobyname(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getprotobyname/3/markdown) and display the result. rpc When no key is provided, use [setrpcent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/setrpcent/3/markdown), [getrpcent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getrpcent/3/markdown), and [endrpcent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/endrpcent/3/markdown) to enumerate the rpc database. When one or more key arguments are provided, pass each numeric key to [getrpcbynumber(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getrpcbynumber/3/markdown) and each nonnumeric key to getrpcby- [name(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/name/3/markdown) and display the result. services When no key is provided, use [setservent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/setservent/3/markdown), [getservent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getservent/3/markdown), and [endservent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/endservent/3/markdown) to enumerate the services database. When one or more key arguments are provided, pass each nu- meric key to [getservbynumber(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getservbynumber/3/markdown) and each nonnumeric key to [getservbyname(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getservbyname/3/markdown) and display the result. shadow When no key is provided, use [setspent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/setspent/3/markdown), [getspent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getspent/3/markdown), and [endspent(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/endspent/3/markdown) to enumerate the shadow database. When one or more key arguments are provided, pass each key in succes- sion to [getspnam(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getspnam/3/markdown) and display the result. OPTIONS -s service, --service service Override all databases with the specified service. (Since glibc 2.2.5.) -s database:service, --service 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.) -i, --no-idn Disables IDN encoding in lookups for ahosts/[getaddrinfo(3)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/getaddrinfo/3/markdown) (Since glibc-2.13.) -?, --help Print a usage summary and exit. --usage Print a short usage summary and exit. -V, --version 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)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/nsswitch.conf/5/markdown) COLOPHON This page is part of release 5.10 of the Linux man-pages project. A description of the project, information about reporting bugs, and the latest version of this page, can be found at . Linux 2020-12-21 [GETENT(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/GETENT/1/markdown)