diff --git a/chef/cookbooks/ohai/recipes/default.rb b/chef/cookbooks/ohai/recipes/default.rb
index 7e7a0c6c89..cead8d3464 100644
--- a/chef/cookbooks/ohai/recipes/default.rb
+++ b/chef/cookbooks/ohai/recipes/default.rb
@@ -112,6 +112,15 @@
 # drop relatively big attributes that we know we won't use
 node.automatic_attrs["kernel"].delete("modules")
 
+# drop the collected Etc.passwd entries, these can be huge
+if node.automatic_attrs.key?("etc") && node.automatic_attrs["etc"].key?("passwd")
+  node.automatic_attrs["etc"].delete("passwd")
+end
+
+# Temporary workaround for nova cookbook dependency, remove after 2017/12
+node.automatic_attrs["etc"] ||= Mash.new
+node.automatic_attrs["etc"]["passwd"] ||= Mash.new
+
 # duplicates the cpu data
 node.automatic_attrs["dmi"].delete("processor")
 # when looking at cpu data, we're happy looking at the first one only; removing
diff --git a/chef/cookbooks/provisioner/templates/default/crowbar_join.suse.sh.erb b/chef/cookbooks/provisioner/templates/default/crowbar_join.suse.sh.erb
index 128e10a1ce..a73dcc5635 100644
--- a/chef/cookbooks/provisioner/templates/default/crowbar_join.suse.sh.erb
+++ b/chef/cookbooks/provisioner/templates/default/crowbar_join.suse.sh.erb
@@ -253,6 +253,9 @@ EOF
     line='Encoding.default_external = Encoding::UTF_8 if RUBY_VERSION > "1.9"'
     grep -q -e "^$line$" /etc/chef/client.rb || echo "$line" >> /etc/chef/client.rb
 
+    # work around: avoid excessively large node attributes due to large number of accounts
+    line='Ohai::Config[:disabled_plugins] << "passwd"'
+    grep -q -e "^$line$" /etc/chef/client.rb || echo "$line" >> /etc/chef/client.rb
 }
 
 do_chef_client_after_setup() {
diff --git a/crowbar_framework/spec/fixtures/offline_chef/node_admin.crowbar.com.json b/crowbar_framework/spec/fixtures/offline_chef/node_admin.crowbar.com.json
index 4c6d17f4fc..77463d07e2 100644
--- a/crowbar_framework/spec/fixtures/offline_chef/node_admin.crowbar.com.json
+++ b/crowbar_framework/spec/fixtures/offline_chef/node_admin.crowbar.com.json
@@ -1377,512 +1377,6 @@
       "deployer-client",
       "crowbar"
     ],
-    "etc": {
-      "group": {
-        "lpadmin": {
-          "gid": 107,
-          "members": [
-            "crowbar"
-          ]
-        },
-        "utmp": {
-          "gid": 43,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "dip": {
-          "gid": 30,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "audio": {
-          "gid": 29,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "uucp": {
-          "gid": 10,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "sambashare": {
-          "gid": 108,
-          "members": [
-            "crowbar"
-          ]
-        },
-        "syslog": {
-          "gid": 103,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "nogroup": {
-          "gid": 65534,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "games": {
-          "gid": 60,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "list": {
-          "gid": 38,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "kmem": {
-          "gid": 15,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "shadow": {
-          "gid": 42,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "sudo": {
-          "gid": 27,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "sys": {
-          "gid": 3,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "couchdb": {
-          "gid": 111,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "tty": {
-          "gid": 5,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "admin": {
-          "gid": 109,
-          "members": [
-            "crowbar"
-          ]
-        },
-        "libuuid": {
-          "gid": 101,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "staff": {
-          "gid": 50,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "src": {
-          "gid": 40,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "irc": {
-          "gid": 39,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "backup": {
-          "gid": 34,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "www-data": {
-          "gid": 33,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "tape": {
-          "gid": 26,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "man": {
-          "gid": 12,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "lp": {
-          "gid": 7,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "fuse": {
-          "gid": 104,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "proxy": {
-          "gid": 13,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "mail": {
-          "gid": 8,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "chef": {
-          "gid": 113,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "operator": {
-          "gid": 37,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "cdrom": {
-          "gid": 24,
-          "members": [
-            "crowbar"
-          ]
-        },
-        "root": {
-          "gid": 0,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "plugdev": {
-          "gid": 46,
-          "members": [
-            "crowbar"
-          ]
-        },
-        "sasl": {
-          "gid": 45,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "video": {
-          "gid": 44,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "fax": {
-          "gid": 21,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "bin": {
-          "gid": 2,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "ssh": {
-          "gid": 106,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "users": {
-          "gid": 100,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "news": {
-          "gid": 9,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "daemon": {
-          "gid": 1,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "mlocate": {
-          "gid": 105,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "crontab": {
-          "gid": 102,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "gnats": {
-          "gid": 41,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "floppy": {
-          "gid": 25,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "voice": {
-          "gid": 22,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "disk": {
-          "gid": 6,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "jetty": {
-          "gid": 112,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "rabbitmq": {
-          "gid": 110,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "crowbar": {
-          "gid": 1000,
-          "members": [
-
-          ]
-        },
-        "dialout": {
-          "gid": 20,
-          "members": [
-            "crowbar"
-          ]
-        },
-        "adm": {
-          "gid": 4,
-          "members": [
-            "crowbar"
-          ]
-        }
-      },
-      "passwd": {
-        "uucp": {
-          "dir": "\/var\/spool\/uucp",
-          "gecos": "uucp",
-          "gid": 10,
-          "uid": 10,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/sh"
-        },
-        "syslog": {
-          "dir": "\/home\/syslog",
-          "gecos": "",
-          "gid": 103,
-          "uid": 101,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/false"
-        },
-        "list": {
-          "dir": "\/var\/list",
-          "gecos": "Mailing List Manager",
-          "gid": 38,
-          "uid": 38,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/sh"
-        },
-        "games": {
-          "dir": "\/usr\/games",
-          "gecos": "games",
-          "gid": 60,
-          "uid": 5,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/sh"
-        },
-        "sys": {
-          "dir": "\/dev",
-          "gecos": "sys",
-          "gid": 3,
-          "uid": 3,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/sh"
-        },
-        "couchdb": {
-          "dir": "\/var\/lib\/couchdb",
-          "gecos": "CouchDB Administrator,,,",
-          "gid": 111,
-          "uid": 104,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/bash"
-        },
-        "nobody": {
-          "dir": "\/nonexistent",
-          "gecos": "nobody",
-          "gid": 65534,
-          "uid": 65534,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/sh"
-        },
-        "libuuid": {
-          "dir": "\/var\/lib\/libuuid",
-          "gecos": "",
-          "gid": 101,
-          "uid": 100,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/sh"
-        },
-        "irc": {
-          "dir": "\/var\/run\/ircd",
-          "gecos": "ircd",
-          "gid": 39,
-          "uid": 39,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/sh"
-        },
-        "backup": {
-          "dir": "\/var\/backups",
-          "gecos": "backup",
-          "gid": 34,
-          "uid": 34,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/sh"
-        },
-        "www-data": {
-          "dir": "\/var\/www",
-          "gecos": "www-data",
-          "gid": 33,
-          "uid": 33,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/sh"
-        },
-        "lp": {
-          "dir": "\/var\/spool\/lpd",
-          "gecos": "lp",
-          "gid": 7,
-          "uid": 7,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/sh"
-        },
-        "man": {
-          "dir": "\/var\/cache\/man",
-          "gecos": "man",
-          "gid": 12,
-          "uid": 6,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/sh"
-        },
-        "proxy": {
-          "dir": "\/bin",
-          "gecos": "proxy",
-          "gid": 13,
-          "uid": 13,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/sh"
-        },
-        "mail": {
-          "dir": "\/var\/mail",
-          "gecos": "mail",
-          "gid": 8,
-          "uid": 8,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/sh"
-        },
-        "sync": {
-          "dir": "\/bin",
-          "gecos": "sync",
-          "gid": 65534,
-          "uid": 4,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/sync"
-        },
-        "chef": {
-          "dir": "\/var\/lib\/chef",
-          "gecos": "Chef Daemon,,,",
-          "gid": 113,
-          "uid": 106,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/false"
-        },
-        "sshd": {
-          "dir": "\/var\/run\/sshd",
-          "gecos": "",
-          "gid": 65534,
-          "uid": 102,
-          "shell": "\/usr\/sbin\/nologin"
-        },
-        "root": {
-          "dir": "\/root",
-          "gecos": "root",
-          "gid": 0,
-          "uid": 0,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/bash"
-        },
-        "bin": {
-          "dir": "\/bin",
-          "gecos": "bin",
-          "gid": 2,
-          "uid": 2,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/sh"
-        },
-        "news": {
-          "dir": "\/var\/spool\/news",
-          "gecos": "news",
-          "gid": 9,
-          "uid": 9,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/sh"
-        },
-        "daemon": {
-          "dir": "\/usr\/sbin",
-          "gecos": "daemon",
-          "gid": 1,
-          "uid": 1,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/sh"
-        },
-        "gnats": {
-          "dir": "\/var\/lib\/gnats",
-          "gecos": "Gnats Bug-Reporting System (admin)",
-          "gid": 41,
-          "uid": 41,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/sh"
-        },
-        "jetty": {
-          "dir": "\/usr\/share\/jetty",
-          "gecos": "",
-          "gid": 112,
-          "uid": 105,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/false"
-        },
-        "rabbitmq": {
-          "dir": "\/var\/lib\/rabbitmq",
-          "gecos": "RabbitMQ messaging server,,,",
-          "gid": 110,
-          "uid": 103,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/false"
-        },
-        "crowbar": {
-          "dir": "\/home\/crowbar",
-          "gecos": "Admin Account,,,",
-          "gid": 1000,
-          "uid": 1000,
-          "shell": "\/bin\/bash"
-        }
-      }
-    },
     "macaddress": "00:0c:29:d2:45:69",
     "crowbar": {
       "detected": {