vipw:tldr:da019

The command vipw is used to edit the system's password file in Unix-like operating systems.

When you run the vipw command, it opens the password file (/etc/passwd) in a text editor, usually Vi or Vim. This file contains information about user accounts on the system, such as usernames, user IDs (UIDs), home directories, and default shells. Each line in the file represents a user account with fields separated by colons.

By editing the password file with vipw, you can modify user account settings like usernames, UIDs, group IDs, home directories, and shells. It allows you to manually manage user accounts and change their attributes.

It is important to note that modifying the password file requires root or superuser privileges because it directly affects the system's user management.