RHEL Linux Red Hat System Administration 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

The file that contains user account information in RHEL is /etc/passwd. This file is essential for the operating system as it stores necessary details about user accounts, including username, user ID (UID), group ID (GID), home directory, and the default shell for the user.

Each line in the /etc/passwd file corresponds to a different user and follows a specific format: it includes fields that contain the username, password placeholder (an 'x' that indicates the password is stored in a separate file for security), UID, GID, user information (commonly referred to as the GECOS field that may contain full name or other info), home directory path, and the shell used by the user.

This structure allows the system to manage user-related functions efficiently, such as login attempts and determining access rights. The integrity of the /etc/passwd file is crucial because it serves as a point of reference for many authentication and authorization processes within the system.

While /etc/shadow is also important, as it contains encrypted password information for users, it is not the primary file for listing user account details. The /etc/user.conf and /var/log/user.log files do not serve this purpose and do not contain user account information