diff --git a/src/DB.zig b/src/DB.zig
index 2138790..bc254e7 100644
--- a/src/DB.zig
+++ b/src/DB.zig
@@ -388,15 +388,18 @@ fn pushStr(str: []const u8, buf: []u8, offset: *usize) [*:0]const u8 {
     return buf[start .. start + str.len :0].ptr;
 }
 
-pub fn writeUser(self: *const DB, user: PackedUser, buf: []u8) error{BufferTooSmall}!CUser {
-    const shell_reader = ShellReader{
+pub fn shellReader(self: *const DB) ShellReader {
+    return ShellReader{
         .index = self.shell_index,
         .blob = self.shell_blob,
     };
+}
+
+pub fn writeUser(self: *const DB, user: PackedUser, buf: []u8) error{BufferTooSmall}!CUser {
     const name = user.name();
     const gecos = user.gecos();
     const home = user.home();
-    const shell = user.shell(shell_reader);
+    const shell = user.shell(self.shellReader());
 
     const strlen =
         name.len + 1 +
@@ -421,7 +424,7 @@ pub fn writeUser(self: *const DB, user: PackedUser, buf: []u8) error{BufferTooSm
     };
 }
 
-pub fn getUser(self: *const DB, name: []const u8) ?PackedUser {
+pub fn getUserByName(self: *const DB, name: []const u8) ?PackedUser {
     const idx = bdz.search(self.bdz_username, name);
     // bdz may return a hash that's bigger than the number of users
     if (idx >= self.header.num_users) return null;
@@ -434,18 +437,23 @@ pub fn getUser(self: *const DB, name: []const u8) ?PackedUser {
 
 // get a CUser entry by name.
 pub fn getpwnam(self: *const DB, name: []const u8, buf: []u8) error{BufferTooSmall}!?CUser {
-    const user = self.getUser(name) orelse return null;
+    const user = self.getUserByName(name) orelse return null;
     return try self.writeUser(user, buf);
 }
 
-// get a CUser entry by uid.
-pub fn getpwuid(self: *const DB, uid: u32, buf: []u8) error{BufferTooSmall}!?CUser {
+pub fn getUserByUid(self: *const DB, uid: u32) ?PackedUser {
     const idx = bdz.search_u32(self.bdz_uid, uid);
     if (idx >= self.header.num_users) return null;
     const offset = self.idx_uid2user[idx];
     const nbits = PackedUser.alignment_bits;
     const user = PackedUser.fromBytes(self.users[offset << nbits ..]).user;
     if (uid != user.uid()) return null;
+    return user;
+}
+
+// get a CUser entry by uid.
+pub fn getpwuid(self: *const DB, uid: u32, buf: []u8) error{BufferTooSmall}!?CUser {
+    const user = self.getUserByUid(uid) orelse return null;
     return try self.writeUser(user, buf);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/PackedUser.zig b/src/PackedUser.zig
index 5d3aa18..a3cb046 100644
--- a/src/PackedUser.zig
+++ b/src/PackedUser.zig
@@ -205,6 +205,18 @@ pub fn shell(self: PackedUser, shell_reader: ShellReader) []const u8 {
     return shell_reader.get(self.inner.shell_len_or_idx);
 }
 
+// returns a User representation of the PackedUser.
+pub fn toUser(self: *const PackedUser, shell_reader: ShellReader) User {
+    return User{
+        .uid = self.uid(),
+        .gid = self.gid(),
+        .name = self.name(),
+        .gecos = self.gecos(),
+        .home = self.home(),
+        .shell = self.shell(shell_reader),
+    };
+}
+
 pub const max_str_len =
     math.maxInt(fieldInfo(Inner, .shell_len_or_idx).field_type) + 1 +
     math.maxInt(fieldInfo(Inner, .home_len).field_type) + 1 +
diff --git a/src/libnss.zig b/src/libnss.zig
index 238510d..90670df 100644
--- a/src/libnss.zig
+++ b/src/libnss.zig
@@ -266,13 +266,8 @@ fn setpwent(state: *State) void {
     state.getpwent_iterator_mu.lock();
     defer state.getpwent_iterator_mu.unlock();
 
-    state.getpwent_iterator = PackedUser.iterator(
-        state.file.db.users,
-        ShellReader{
-            .index = state.file.db.shell_index,
-            .blob = state.file.db.shell_blob,
-        },
-    );
+    const db = state.file.db;
+    state.getpwent_iterator = PackedUser.iterator(db.users, db.shellReader());
 }
 
 export fn _nss_turbo_endpwent() void {
@@ -425,7 +420,7 @@ fn initgroups_dyn(
     errnop: *c_int,
 ) c.enum_nss_status {
     const db = state.file.db;
-    const user = db.getUser(mem.sliceTo(user_name, 0)) orelse {
+    const user = db.getUserByName(mem.sliceTo(user_name, 0)) orelse {
         errnop.* = @enumToInt(os.E.NOENT);
         return c.NSS_STATUS_NOTFOUND;
     };
diff --git a/src/test_all.zig b/src/test_all.zig
index a8e7dd0..28bd44e 100644
--- a/src/test_all.zig
+++ b/src/test_all.zig
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ test "turbonss test suite" {
     _ = @import("validate.zig");
 
     // main
+    _ = @import("turbo-getent.zig");
     _ = @import("turbo-unix2db.zig");
     _ = @import("turbo-analyze.zig");
 }
diff --git a/src/turbo-analyze.zig b/src/turbo-analyze.zig
index 0f01694..b527e4d 100644
--- a/src/turbo-analyze.zig
+++ b/src/turbo-analyze.zig
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ const Allocator = std.mem.Allocator;
 const BoundedArray = std.BoundedArray;
 
 const flags = @import("flags.zig");
-
 const DB = @import("DB.zig");
 const File = @import("File.zig");
 const PackedUser = @import("PackedUser.zig");
diff --git a/src/turbo-getent.zig b/src/turbo-getent.zig
index b3da3f4..4cc8319 100644
--- a/src/turbo-getent.zig
+++ b/src/turbo-getent.zig
@@ -1,9 +1,16 @@
 const std = @import("std");
 const io = std.io;
 const os = std.os;
+const mem = std.mem;
 const fmt = std.fmt;
+const ArrayList = std.ArrayList;
 
 const flags = @import("flags.zig");
+const DB = @import("DB.zig");
+const File = @import("File.zig");
+const PackedUser = @import("PackedUser.zig");
+
+const Mode = enum { group, passwd };
 
 const usage =
     \\usage: turbo-getent [OPTION]... group|passwd [key...]
@@ -16,6 +23,13 @@ const usage =
     \\entries that match the supplied keys will be displayed. If no key is
     \\provided, all entries will be displayed.
     \\
+    \\Exit codes:
+    \\
+    \\  0   command completed successfully
+    \\  1   invalid arguments or db could not be opened
+    \\  2   one or more supplied key could not be found in the database
+    \\  3   output error
+    \\
 ;
 
 pub fn main() !void {
@@ -36,6 +50,7 @@ fn execute(
 ) u8 {
     const myflags = flags.parse(argv, &[_]flags.Flag{
         .{ .name = "-h", .kind = .boolean },
+        .{ .name = "--db", .kind = .arg },
     }) catch {
         stderr.writeAll(usage) catch {};
         return 1;
@@ -46,5 +61,110 @@ fn execute(
         return 0;
     }
 
+    if (myflags.args.len == 0) {
+        stderr.writeAll(usage) catch {};
+        return 1;
+    }
+
+    const arg0 = mem.span(myflags.args[0]);
+    const mode: Mode = blk: {
+        if (mem.eql(u8, arg0, "passwd")) {
+            break :blk .passwd;
+        } else if (mem.eql(u8, arg0, "group")) {
+            break :blk .group;
+        } else {
+            stderr.print("bad argument {s}: expected passwd or group\n", .{
+                myflags.args[0],
+            }) catch return 3;
+            return 1;
+        }
+    };
+
+    const db_file = myflags.argFlag("--db") orelse "/etc/turbonss/db.turbo";
+    var file = File.open(db_file) catch |err| {
+        stderr.print(
+            "ERROR {s}: file '{s}' is corrupted or cannot be read\n",
+            .{ @errorName(err), db_file },
+        ) catch return 3;
+        return 1;
+    };
+    defer file.close();
+
+    return switch (mode) {
+        .passwd => passwd(stdout, &file.db, myflags.args[1..]),
+        .group => group(stdout, &file.db, myflags.args[1..]),
+    };
+}
+
+fn passwd(stdout: anytype, db: *const DB, keys: []const [*:0]const u8) u8 {
+    var some_notfound = false;
+
+    if (keys.len == 0)
+        return passwd_all(stdout, db);
+
+    const shell_reader = db.shellReader();
+
+    for (keys) |key| {
+        const keyZ = mem.span(key);
+        const maybe_packed_user = if (fmt.parseUnsigned(u32, keyZ, 10)) |uid|
+            db.getUserByUid(uid)
+        else |_|
+            db.getUserByName(keyZ);
+
+        const packed_user = maybe_packed_user orelse {
+            some_notfound = true;
+            continue;
+        };
+
+        const line = packed_user.toUser(shell_reader).toLine();
+        stdout.writeAll(line.constSlice()) catch return 3;
+    }
+
+    return if (some_notfound) 2 else 0;
+}
+
+fn passwd_all(stdout: anytype, db: *const DB) u8 {
+    var it = PackedUser.iterator(db.users, db.shellReader());
+    while (it.next()) |packed_user| {
+        const line = packed_user.toUser(db.shellReader()).toLine();
+        stdout.writeAll(line.constSlice()) catch return 3;
+    }
+    return 0;
+}
+
+const testing = std.testing;
+
+test "passwd and passwd_all" {
+    var tf = try File.TestDB.init(testing.allocator);
+    defer tf.deinit();
+    var stdout = ArrayList(u8).init(testing.allocator);
+    defer stdout.deinit();
+    var stderr = ArrayList(u8).init(testing.allocator);
+    defer stderr.deinit();
+
+    const args = &[_][*:0]const u8{
+        "--db",
+        tf.path,
+        "passwd",
+        "root",
+        "doesnotexist",
+        "vidmantas",
+        "0",
+        "1",
+    };
+    const got = execute(stdout.writer(), stderr.writer(), args);
+    try testing.expectEqual(got, 2);
+    const want_root = "root:x:0:0::/root:/bin/bash\n";
+    try testing.expectEqualStrings(stdout.items[0..want_root.len], want_root);
+    const want_vidmantas = "vidmantas:x:128:128:Vidmantas Kaminskas:/home/vidmantas:/bin/bash\n";
+    var offset: usize = want_root.len + want_vidmantas.len;
+    try testing.expectEqualStrings(stdout.items[want_root.len..offset], want_vidmantas);
+    try testing.expectEqualStrings(stdout.items[offset..], want_root);
+}
+
+fn group(stdout: anytype, db: *const DB, keys: []const [*:0]const u8) u8 {
+    _ = db;
+    _ = stdout;
+    _ = keys;
     return 0;
 }