Prototype: getuserinfo(optional_uidorname)

Return type: data

Description: Return information about the current user or any other, looked up by user ID (UID) or user name.

This function searches for a user known to the system. If the optional_uidorname parameter is omitted, the current user (that is currently running the agent) is retrieved. If optional_uidorname is specified, the user entry is looked up by name or ID, using the standard getpwuid() and getpwnam() POSIX functions (but note that these functions may in turn talk to LDAP, for instance).

On platforms that don't support these POSIX functions, the function simply fails.

Arguments:

  • optional_uidorname: string - User name in text - in the range: .*

Example:

code
body common control
{
      bundlesequence => { "example" };
}

bundle agent example
{
    vars:
      # note the results here will vary depending on your platform
      "me" data => getuserinfo(); # the current user's info
      "root" data => getuserinfo("root"); # the "root" user's info (usually UID 0)
      "uid0" data => getuserinfo(0); # lookup user info for UID 0 (usually "root")

      # sys.user_data has the information for the user that started the agent
      "out" string => format("I am '%s', root shell is '%s', and the agent was started by %S", "$(me[description])", "$(root[shell])", "sys.user_data");

  reports:
      "$(out)";
}

Typical Results:

code
R: I am 'Mr. Current User', root shell is '/bin/bash', and the agent was started by {"description":"Mr. Current User","gid":1000,"home_dir":"/home/theuser","shell":"/bin/sh","uid":1000,"username":"theuser"}

And variable contents:
  "me": {
    "description": "Mr. Current User",
    "gid": 1000,
    "home_dir": "/home/theuser",
    "shell": "/bin/sh",
    "uid": 1000,
    "username": "theuser"
  }

  "root": {
    "description": "root",
    "gid": 0,
    "home_dir": "/root",
    "shell": "/bin/bash",
    "uid": 0,
    "username": "root"
  }

  "uid0": {
    "description": "root",
    "gid": 0,
    "home_dir": "/root",
    "shell": "/bin/bash",
    "uid": 0,
    "username": "root"
  }

History: Introduced in CFEngine 3.10

See also: getusers(), users.