.\" Copyright, the authors of the Linux man-pages project
.\"
.\" SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
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.TH shells 5 2025-05-17 "Linux man-pages 6.16"
.SH NAME
shells \- pathnames of valid login shells
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I /etc/shells
is a text file which contains the full pathnames of valid login shells.
This file is consulted by
.BR chsh (1)
and available to be queried by other programs.
.P
Be aware that there are programs which consult this file to
find out if a user is a normal user;
for example,
FTP daemons traditionally
disallow access to users with shells not included in this file.
.SH FILES
.I /etc/shells
.SH EXAMPLES
.I /etc/shells
may contain the following paths:
.P
.in +4n
.EX
.I /bin/sh
.I /bin/bash
.I /bin/csh
.EE
.in
.SH SEE ALSO
.BR chsh (1),
.BR getusershell (3),
.BR pam_shells (8)