all Python 3until 3.13Linux · macOSRemoved from the standard libraryterm

spwd

removed modules

Read the shadow password database /etc/shadow. Unix-only. Removed in Python 3.13 with no stdlib replacement — check passwords via python-pam.

Syntax

import spwd  # до 3.13

spwd.getspnam('alice') returned a record from /etc/shadow: the password hash sp_pwdp, its expiry and other fields; only root could read it. Usually the goal was to check a password by comparing the hash via crypt. PEP 594 dropped it together with crypt: reading hashes by hand is unsafe and bypasses the system login policy. There is no stdlib replacement. Delegate password checks to PAM through the python-pam package: pam.authenticate(name, password). Public user data (home directory, shell, UID) still comes from pwd.getpwnam(), which needs no root rights.

Examples

# Python 3.13+
try:
    import spwd
except ModuleNotFoundError as e:
    print(type(e).__name__)  # → ModuleNotFoundError

# Python 3.13+
import pwd
print(pwd.getpwnam('root').pw_dir)  # → /root

See also

Common errors

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