We can use the apropos command to obtain the same results we would with man -k:
# apropos passwd
chpasswd (8) - update passwords in batch mode
fgetpwent_r (3) - get passwd file entry reentrantly
getpwent_r (3) – get passwd file entry reentrantly
gpasswd (1) – administer /etc/group and /etc/gshadow
htpasswd (1) - Manage user files for basic authentication
lpasswd (1) – Change group or user password
lppasswd (1) - add, change, or delete digest passwords.
pam_localuser (8) - require users to be listed in /etc/passwd
pam_passwdqc (8) - Password qualitycontrol PAM module
passwd (1) - update user’s authentication tokens
sslpasswd (1ssl) - compute password hashes
passwd (5) - password file
passwd2des (3) – RFS password encryption
passwdqc.conf (5) – libpasswdqc configuration file
pwhistory_helper (8) - Helper binary that transfers password hashes from passwd or shadow to opasswd
saslpasswd2 (8) - set a user’s sasl password
smbpasswd (5) – The Samba encrypted password file
smbpasswd (8) – change a user’s SMB password
vncpasswd (1) – change the VNC password
We can limit searches to just one section with the -s flag:
# apropos -s1 passwd
gpasswd (1) - administer /etc/group and /etc/gshadow
htpasswd (1) – Manage user files for basic authentication
lpasswd (1) – Change group or user password
lppasswd (1) – add, change, or delete digest passwords.
passwd (1) – update user’s authentication tokens
sslpasswd (1ssl) - compute password hashes
vncpasswd (1) – change the VNC password
We can also look for matches of 2 or more words with the -a flag: