backup user accounts

[albi]

Olaf Stein wrote:

> what is the best way of backing up user accounts:
> is it by simply copying /etc/passwd, group and shadow (if used) or is 
> there another way

you can copy the needed entries, but take care about uids and gids if 
you want to copy the whole thing

> would these files then be compatible with other versions of 
> ubuntu/debian or only with the one they were created on

yes, afaik they are compatible