PASSWD(1) User utilities PASSWD(1)
NAME
passwd - update user's authentication tokens
SYNOPSIS
passwd [-k] [-l] [-u [-f]] [-d] [-e] [-n mindays] [-x maxdays] [-w
warndays] [-i inactivedays] [-S] [--stdin] [username]
DESCRIPTION
The passwd utility is used to update user's authentication token(s).
This task is achieved through calls to the Linux-PAM and Libuser API.
Essentially, it initializes itself as a "passwd" service with Linux-PAM
and utilizes configured password modules to authenticate and then
update a user's password.
A simple entry in the global Linux-PAM configuration file for this ser-
vice would be:
#
# passwd service entry that does strength checking of
# a proposed password before updating it.
#
passwd password requisite pam_cracklib.so retry=3
passwd password required pam_unix.so use_authtok
#
Note, other module types are not required for this application to func-
tion correctly.
OPTIONS
-k, --keep
The option -k is used to indicate that the update should only be
for expired authentication tokens (passwords); the user wishes
to keep their non-expired tokens as before.
-l, --lock
This option is used to lock the password of specified account
and it is available to root only. The locking is performed by
rendering the encrypted password into an invalid string (by pre-
fixing the encrypted string with an !). Note that the account is
not fully locked - the user can still log in by other means of
authentication such as the ssh public key authentication. Use
chage -E 0 user command instead for full account locking.
--stdin
This option is used to indicate that passwd should read the new
password from standard input, which can be a pipe.
-u, --unlock
This is the reverse of the -l option - it will unlock the
account password by removing the ! prefix. This option is avail-
able to root only. By default passwd will refuse to create a
passwordless account (it will not unlock an account that has
only "!" as a password). The force option -f will override this
protection.
-d, --delete
This is a quick way to delete a password for an account. It will
set the named account passwordless. Available to root only.
-e, --expire
This is a quick way to expire a password for an account. The
user will be forced to change the password during the next login
attempt. Available to root only.
-f, --force
Force the specified operation.
-n, --minimum DAYS
This will set the minimum password lifetime, in days, if the
user's account supports password lifetimes. Available to root
only.
-x, --maximum DAYS
This will set the maximum password lifetime, in days, if the
user's account supports password lifetimes. Available to root
only.
-w, --warning DAYS
This will set the number of days in advance the user will begin
receiving warnings that her password will expire, if the user's
account supports password lifetimes. Available to root only.
-i, --inactive DAYS
This will set the number of days which will pass before an
expired password for this account will be taken to mean that the
account is inactive and should be disabled, if the user's
account supports password lifetimes. Available to root only.
-S, --status
This will output a short information about the status of the
password for a given account. The status information consists of
7 fields. The first field is the user's login name. The second
field indicates if the user account has a locked password (LK),
has no password (NP), or has a usable password (PS). The third
field gives the date of the last password change. The next four
fields are the minimum age, maximum age, warning period, and
inactivity period for the password. These ages are expressed in
days.
Notes: The date of the last password change is stored as a num-
ber of days since epoch. Depending on the current time zone, the
passwd -S username may show the date of the last password change
that is different from the real date of the last password change
by +-1 day.
This option is available to root only.
Remember the following two principles
Protect your password.
Don't write down your password - memorize it. In particular,
don't write it down and leave it anywhere, and don't place it in
an unencrypted file! Use unrelated passwords for systems con-
trolled by different organizations. Don't give or share your
password, in particular to someone claiming to be from computer
support or a vendor. Don't let anyone watch you enter your
password. Don't enter your password to a computer you don't
trust or if things "look funny"; someone may be trying to hijack
your password. Use the password for a limited time and change
it periodically.
Choose a hard-to-guess password.
passwd through the calls to the pam_cracklib PAM module will try
to prevent you from choosing a really bad password, but it isn't
foolproof; create your password wisely. Don't use something
you'd find in a dictionary (in any language or jargon). Don't
use a name (including that of a spouse, parent, child, pet, fan-
tasy character, famous person, and location) or any variation of
your personal or account name. Don't use accessible information
about you (such as your phone number, license plate, or social
security number) or your environment. Don't use a birthday or a
simple pattern (such as "qwerty", "abc", or "aaa"). Don't use
any of those backwards, followed by a digit, or preceded by a
digit. Instead, use a mixture of upper and lower case letters,
as well as digits or punctuation. When choosing a new password,
make sure it's unrelated to any previous password. Use long
passwords (say at least 8 characters long). You might use a
word pair with punctuation inserted, a passphrase (an under-
standable sequence of words), or the first letter of each word
in a passphrase.
These principles are partially enforced by the system, but only partly
so. Vigilance on your part will make the system much more secure.
EXIT CODE
The passwd command exits with the following codes:
0
success
1
passwd/libuser operation failed
2
unknown user
252
unknown user name
253
bad arguments or passwordless account
254
invalid application of arguments
255
libuser operation failed
Error messages are written to the standard error stream.
CONFORMING TO
Linux-PAM (Pluggable Authentication modules for Linux).
FILES
/etc/pam.d/passwd - the Linux-PAM configuration file
BUGS
None known.
SEE ALSO
pam(8), pam.d(5), libuser.conf(5), and pam_chauthtok(3).
For more complete information on how to configure this application with
Linux-PAM, see the Linux-PAM System Administrators' Guide.
AUTHOR
Cristian Gafton <gafton AT redhat.com>
GNU/Linux Jun 20 2012 PASSWD(1)
Linux-Distributionen
Huschi als Linux-Admin