Security

Splunk's $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/passwd File syntax and encryption/hashing algorithm

Ricapar
Communicator

I've searched around a good bit.. haven't found any official documentation on the topic.

On Splunk forwarders and indexers, Splunk stores users and their info in $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/passwd

Cat-ing the file on one of my forwarders looks like this:

:admin:<hashed-password>::Administrator:admin:[email protected]:

My two questions are:

  1. What is the full syntax for the passwd file? Some fields are obvious, but I still haven't found any offical docs on the syntax.
  2. How is the hashed password generated? Is it actually a hash, or a reversible encryption? In either case, what algorithm is used and how is it seeded?

nikhil1231
Loves-to-Learn

Hi i forgot my password, i need help in resetting it. many thanks

0 Karma
Got questions? Get answers!

Join the Splunk Community Slack to learn, troubleshoot, and make connections with fellow Splunk practitioners in real time!

Meet up IRL or virtually!

Join Splunk User Groups to connect and learn in-person by region or remotely by topic or industry.

Get Updates on the Splunk Community!

Best Practices: Splunk auto adjust pipeline queue

When you enable autoAdjustQueue in Splunk, maxSize should be understood as the queue size Splunk starts with ...

Introducing the 2026 - 2027 SplunkTrust cohort!

The goal of the SplunkTrust™ membership has historically been to acknowledge and recognize those who go above ...

Splunk Auto Ingestion Parallel Pipeline Scaling

Why this feature matters Many Splunk environments experience ingestion pressure long before the host is fully ...