On Thu, Jun 29, 2006 at 10:49:51AM -0400, McGraw, Robert P. wrote:
> I am running WinXP SP2. I have installed cygwin and I am going through the 
> documents on how to set up a window machine to be backed up by Amanda.
> 
> Not being a window type guy I am trying to understand what the "SYSTEM" 
> account is.
> 
> I see the line "SYSTEM:*:18:544:....." in the /etc/passwd but I am not sure 
> what this account is or where it is created from. It is not in
> my list of accounts under "computer management / local users and groups".
> 
> After my cygwin install my  /etc/passwd  and /etc/group look like:
> 
> SYSTEM:*:18:544:,S-1-5-18::
> Administrators:*:544:544:,S-1-5-32-544::
> 
> root:S-1-5-32-544:0:
> SYSTEM:S-1-5-18:18:
> Administrators:S-1-5-32-544:544:
> 
> QUESTIONS:
> 
>       1) What is the SYSTEM account.
> 
>       2) Am I suppose to be able to log in to the account SYSTEM?
> 
>       3) Do I need to be able to log in as SYSTEM?
> 
>       4) Where does the cygwin install get the information to create the 
> /etc/passwd entry?
> 

Take this with a large dose of uncertainty.
It has been years and I was never that clear anyway.

system is a privileged id, more privileged than administrator,
but not as privileged as root on unix systems.  It is not used
for logins, but some how to aquire the privileges (kinda like
setuid or su).  Where root has a specific uid/gid (0/0) system
has the same, but their values are 18/18  (???)  And I think
the 544 is the fixed numeric values for administrator.

-- 
Jon H. LaBadie                  jon AT jgcomp DOT com
 JG Computing
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