About the Sample Code for UNIX /etc/passwd

Note: This code is in SAS-installation-directory\SASFoundation\9.3\core\sample\importpw.sas (Windows) or SAS-installation-directory/SASFoundation/9.3/samples/base/importpw.sas (UNIX). This topic highlights key points about the code.

This program expects user information in /etc/passwd files in this form:

user name : password : uid (numeric) : primary group id : <continued> 
gcos-field: home-directory : login-shell

The gcos-field item consists of additional comma-delimited fields in this form:

Person Name, Office, phone extension, misc, employeeid

For example:

user name : password : uid (numeric) : primary group id : <continued> 
Person Name, Office, phone extension, misc, employeeid:<continued>
home-directory : login-shell

Here are details about this code:

The colons delimit standard fields; the commas delimit items within the gcos-field (you can use any delimiter other than a colon).
If your /etc/passwd file has a different format, modify the sample program to either exclude information from the extraction or to extract it from the appropriate fields.
If the employeeid field for an /etc/passwd entry is empty, that entry is dropped from the import.
The values in the Person Name field should be unique. The program includes a DUPLICATEPERSONS macro variable that, when set to RECODE, changes a duplicate value in the Person Name field to the user ID value of the PW file entry. However, if the DUPLICATEPERSONS macro variable is set to any other value, users with duplicate names in the Person Name field are deleted.

The program expects group information in a /etc/groupfile. The standard format is as follows:

groupname : password : gid (numeric) : comma-delimited list of users

Here are details about this file:

Users are identified by user name (rather than by a numeric user ID).
A group cannot be a member of another group.
To exclude a user or group, enter an asterisk (*) in the password field. The import program drops entries that contain an asterisk in the password field.

The following table highlights selected variables:

Selected Variables in a UNIX File Import

Variable Name	Purpose	Notes
UID	Provides an external identity value for each metadata user and group that this program creates.	Use a field that contains a unique and unchanging value for each entry in an `/etc/passwd` file and an `/etc/group` file. In the sample code, the uid field of the gcos-field is used. If this field is empty for any records, those records are excluded from the import.
MetadataAuthDomain	Enables all metadata logins that this program creates to be associated with an authentication domain.	Specify a SAS authentication domain name. The supplied value is typically `DefaultAuth`.
UNIXEMAILDOMAIN	Enables construction of an e-mail address for each user.	Specify the UNIX domain for the extracted identities. The supplied value is appended to extracted user IDs to yield e-mail addresses in the form userid@supplied-value. If your e-mail addresses follow a different convention, modify this part of the code.
PWExtIDTAG	Provides a label for all metadata items that this program creates. The label indicates which objects were created by this program.	Specify a descriptive label that will be applied to all imported objects to indicate where they came from. The default value is `Passwd File Import`. Do not quote this value. If you select the External Identities button on an imported identity's General tab (in SAS Management Console), you will see this label in the Context column of the External Identities dialog box.