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28 .\" @(#)chpass.1 8.2 (Berkeley) 12/30/93
29 .\" $FreeBSD: src/usr.bin/chpass/chpass.1,v 1.39 2005/08/02 21:38:02 seanc Exp $
30 .\" $DragonFly: src/usr.bin/chpass/chpass.1,v 1.4 2006/02/17 19:38:58 swildner Exp $
42 .Nd add or change user database information
47 .Op Fl e Ar expiretime
54 .Op Fl e Ar expiretime
63 allows editing of the user database information associated
66 or, by default, the current user.
75 utilities behave identically to
77 (There is only one program.)
79 The information is formatted and supplied to an editor for changes.
81 Only the information that the user is allowed to change is displayed.
83 The options are as follows:
84 .Bl -tag -width indent
86 The super-user is allowed to directly supply a user database
87 entry, in the format specified by
90 This argument must be a colon
92 separated list of all the
93 user database fields, although they may be empty.
95 The super-user is allowed to directly supply an encrypted password field,
99 .It Fl e Ar expiretime
100 Change the account expire time.
101 This option is used to set the expire time
102 from a script as if it was done in the interactive editor.
104 Attempt to change the user's shell to
108 Possible display items are as follows:
110 .Bl -tag -width "Other Information:" -compact -offset indent
114 user's encrypted password
120 user's general classification
124 account expiration time
128 user's office location (1)
130 user's office phone (1)
132 user's home phone (1)
133 .It Other Information:
134 any locally defined parameters for user (1)
136 user's home directory
141 In the actual master.passwd file, these fields are comma-delimited
142 fields embedded in the FullName field.
147 field is the user name used to access the computer account.
151 field contains the encrypted form of the user's password.
155 field is the number associated with the
158 Both of these fields should be unique across the system (and often
159 across a group of systems) as they control file access.
161 While it is possible to have multiple entries with identical login names
162 and/or identical user id's, it is usually a mistake to do so.
164 that manipulate these files will often return only one of the multiple
165 entries, and that one by random selection.
169 field is the group that the user will be placed in at login.
172 supports multiple groups (see
174 this field currently has little special meaning.
175 This field may be filled in with either a number or a group name (see
180 field references class descriptions in
182 and is typically used to initialize the user's system resource limits
187 field is the date by which the password must be changed.
191 field is the date on which the account expires.
197 fields should be entered in the form
201 is the month name (the first three characters are sufficient),
203 is the day of the month, and
207 Five fields are available for storing the user's
208 .Ar full name , office location ,
213 .Ar other information
214 which is a single comma delimited string to represent any additional
215 gecos fields (typically used for site specific user information).
218 will display the office location and office phone together under the
226 path name where the user
227 will be placed at login.
231 field is the command interpreter the user prefers.
234 field is empty, the Bourne shell,
237 When altering a login shell, and not the super-user, the user
238 may not change from a non-standard shell or to a non-standard
240 Non-standard is defined as a shell not found in
243 Once the information has been verified,
247 to update the user database.
251 editor will be used unless the environment variable
255 When the editor terminates, the information is re-read and used to
256 update the user database itself.
257 Only the user, or the super-user, may edit the information associated
262 for an explanation of the impact of setting the
264 environment variable.
268 utility can also be used in conjunction with NIS, however some restrictions
272 can only make changes to the NIS passwd maps through
273 .Xr rpc.yppasswdd 8 ,
274 which normally only permits changes to a user's password, shell and GECOS
276 Except when invoked by the super-user on the NIS master server,
282 server to change other user information or
283 add new records to the NIS passwd maps.
286 requires password authentication before it will make any
288 The only user allowed to submit changes without supplying
289 a password is the super-user on the NIS master server; all other users,
290 including those with root privileges on NIS clients (and NIS slave
291 servers) must enter a password.
292 (The super-user on the NIS master is allowed to bypass these restrictions
293 largely for convenience: a user with root access
294 to the NIS master server already has the privileges required to make
295 updates to the NIS maps, but editing the map source files by hand can
298 Note: these exceptions only apply when the NIS master server is a
304 Consequently, except where noted, the following restrictions apply when
307 .Bl -enum -offset indent
309 .Em "Only the shell and GECOS information may be changed" .
311 fields are restricted, even when
313 is invoked by the super-user.
315 changing other fields could be added, this would lead to
316 compatibility problems with other NIS-capable systems.
317 Even though the super-user may supply data for other fields
318 while editing an entry, the extra information (other than the
319 password -- see below) will be silently discarded.
321 Exception: the super-user on the NIS master server is permitted to
325 .Em "Password authentication is required" .
328 utility will prompt for the user's NIS password before effecting
330 If the password is invalid, all changes will be
333 Exception: the super-user on the NIS master server is allowed to
334 submit changes without supplying a password.
336 choose to turn off this feature using the
338 flag, described below.)
340 .Em "Adding new records to the local password database is discouraged" .
343 utility will allow the administrator to add new records to the
344 local password database while NIS is enabled, but this can lead to
345 some confusion since the new records are appended to the end of
346 the master password file, usually after the special NIS '+' entries.
347 The administrator should use
349 to modify the local password
350 file when NIS is running.
352 The super-user on the NIS master server is permitted to add new records
353 to the NIS password maps, provided the
355 server has been started with the
357 flag to permitted additions (it refuses them by default).
360 utility tries to update the local password database by default; to update the
361 NIS maps instead, invoke chpass with the
365 .Em "Password changes are not permitted".
370 to change their NIS passwords.
371 The super-user is allowed to specify
372 a new password (even though the
375 up in the editor template, the super-user may add it back by hand),
376 but even the super-user must supply the user's original password
379 will refuse to update the NIS maps.
381 Exception: the super-user on the NIS master server is permitted to
382 change a user's NIS password with
386 There are also a few extra option flags that are available when
388 is compiled with NIS support:
389 .Bl -tag -width indent
393 to modify the local copy of a user's password
394 information in the event that a user exists in both
395 the local and NIS databases.
399 This flag is largely redundant since
401 operates on NIS entries by default if NIS is enabled.
403 Specify a particular NIS domain.
406 utility uses the system domain name by default, as set by the
411 option can be used to override a default, or to specify a domain
412 when the system domain name is not set.
414 Specify the name or address of an NIS server to query.
417 will communicate with the NIS master host specified in the
422 On hosts that have not been configured as NIS clients, there is
423 no way for the program to determine this information unless the user
424 provides the hostname of a server.
425 Note that the specified hostname need
426 not be that of the NIS master server; the name of any server, master or
427 slave, in a given NIS domain will do.
431 option, the hostname defaults to
435 option can be used in conjunction with the
437 option, in which case the user-specified hostname will override
441 Force the use of RPC-based updates when communicating with
444 When invoked by the super-user on the NIS master server,
446 allows unrestricted changes to the NIS passwd maps using dedicated,
447 non-RPC-based mechanism (in this case, a
452 flag can be used to force
454 to use the standard update mechanism instead.
455 This option is provided
456 mainly for testing purposes.
459 .Bl -tag -width /etc/master.passwd -compact
460 .It Pa /etc/master.passwd
463 a Version 7 format password file
464 .It Pa /etc/chpass.XXXXXX
465 temporary copy of the password file
467 the list of approved shells
482 .%T "UNIX Password security"
490 User information should (and eventually will) be stored elsewhere.