SYNOPSIS

       passwd [-f|-g|-s|-k[-q]] [name]
       passwd [-D binddn][-n min][-x max][-w warn][-i inact] user
       passwd [-D binddn] {-l|-u|-d|-S[-a]|-e|-h} name


DESCRIPTION

       passwd changes passwords  for  user  and  group  accounts.
       While  an  administrator  may  change the password for any
       account or group, a normal user is only allowed to  change
       the  password  for their own account.  passwd also changes
       account information, such as the full name  of  the  user,
       their  login shell, password expiry dates and intervals or
       disable an account.

   Password Changes
       If an old password is present, the user is  first  promted
       for  it  and  the  password is compared agaisnt the stored
       one. This can be changed, depending which PAM modules  are
       used.   An  administrator is permitted to bypass this step
       so that forgotten passwords may be changed.

       After the user is authenticated, password  aging  informa­
       tion are checked to see if the user is permitted to change
       their password at this time. Else passwd refuses to change
       the password.

       The  user  is  then  prompted  for a replacement password.
       Care must be taken to not include special control  charac­
       ters  or  characters,  which are not available on all key­
       boards.

       If the password is accepted, passwd will prompt again  and
       compare  the second entry against the first.  Both entries
       are require to match in  order  for  the  password  to  be
       changed.


OPTIONS

       -f     Change the finger (gecos) information. This are the
              users fullname, office room  number,  office  phone
              number  and  home phone number. This information is
              stored  in  the  /etc/passwd  file  and   typically
              printed by finger(1) and similiar programs.

       -g     With  this option, the password for the named group
              will be changed.  The user must be a group adminis­
              trator for the named group or the super user.

       -s     This option is used to change the user login shell.
              A normal user may only change the login  shell  for
              their  own  account,  the super user may change the
              login shell for any account.


       -x max With  this option the maximum number of days during
              which a password is valid is changed. When  maxdays
              plus lastday is less than the current day, the user
              will be required  to  change  his  password  before
              being able to use the account.

       -w warn
              With  this  option  the  number  of days of warning
              before  a  password  change  is  required  can   be
              changed. This option is the number of days prior to
              the password expiring that a user  will  be  warned
              the password is about to expire.

       -i inact
              This  option  is  used to set the number of days of
              inactivity after a password has expired before  the
              account  is  locked. A user whose account is locked
              must contact the system  administrator before being
              able  to  use the account again.  A value of 0 dis­
              ables this feature.


   Account maintenance
       -l     A system administrator can lock the account of  the
              specified user.

       -u     A  system  administrator  can  unlock the specified
              account.

       -d     The password of the given account can be deleted by
              the system administrator.

       -S     Report  password  status  on the named account. The
              first part indicates if the user account is  locked
              (L), has no password (NP), or has a usable password
              (P). The second part gives the  date  of  the  last
              password  change.  The  next  parts are the minimum
              age, maximum age, warning  period,  and  inactivity
              period for the password.

       -a     Report  the  password  status for all accounts. Can
              only be used in conjunction with -S.

       -e     The user will be forced to change the  password  at
              next login.

       -h     Change  the  home directory of the named user (only
              by a system administrator).

   Name service switch options
       -D binddn

pwdutils                   January 2003                 passwd(1)

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