Where, in Ubuntu's files, is stored the full name of a user?

Question

Usually the users have a full name associated to them, where is that stored?

possible duplicate of Getting Full User Name – muru Oct 22 '14 at 05:02 — muru, Oct 22 '14 at 05:02

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 21 '14 at 20:09

5

The full names are stored in /etc/passwd.

On the command line you can change it using the command chfn (needs sudo if you want to change other user's names).

answered Oct 21 '14 at 20:09

Florian Diesch

87,389

1

Thank you, that's what I needed. The thing is, I'm using deepin, and when entering chfn on the terminal it does not allow me to change the full name. It shows the "full name field", which is empty, but does not require me to insert a new one, goes directly to Room Number. Maybe it is disabled in deepin? – Thums Oct 21 '14 at 20:14

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 20 '21 at 13:07

1

An extension of sboda's answer, extracting only the full name and encapsulating a function. Shows the full name of any user, or by default the current user.

full_user_name() { getent passwd "${1:-$USER}" | cut -d: -f5 | cut -d, -f1; }

Testing:

$ full_user_name
Rodrigo Silva
$ full_user_name gdm
Gnome Display Manager

answered Apr 20 '21 at 13:07

MestreLion

20,086

Downvoter is welcome to explain what is wrong or what could be improved in my answer... – MestreLion Apr 20 '21 at 14:42

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 21 '14 at 20:14

0

Or if you would like to see the full name of only one user, than you could use:

getent passwd $user_name

answered Oct 21 '14 at 20:14

sboda

512

Where, in Ubuntu's files, is stored the full name of a user?

3 Answers3