CHPASSWD(8)						    System Management Commands						       CHPASSWD(8)

NAME

       chpasswd - update passwords in batch mode

SYNOPSIS

       chpasswd [options]

DESCRIPTION

       The chpasswd command reads a list of user name and password pairs from standard input and uses this information to update a group of
       existing users. Each line is of the format:

       user_name:password

       By default the passwords must be supplied in clear-text, and are encrypted by chpasswd. Also the password age will be updated, if present.

       By default, passwords are encrypted by PAM, but (even if not recommended) you can select a different encryption method with the -e, -m, or
       -c options.

       Except when PAM is used to encrypt the passwords, chpasswd first updates all the passwords in memory, and then commits all the changes to
       disk if no errors occured for any user.

       When PAM is used to encrypt the passwords (and update the passwords in the system database) then if a password cannot be updated chpasswd
       continues updating the passwords of the next users, and will return an error code on exit.

       This command is intended to be used in a large system environment where many accounts are created at a single time.

OPTIONS

       The options which apply to the chpasswd command are:

       -c, --crypt-method METHOD
	   Use the specified method to encrypt the passwords.

	   The available methods are DES, MD5, NONE, and SHA256 or SHA512 if your libc support these methods.

	   By default, PAM is used to encrypt the passwords.

       -e, --encrypted
	   Supplied passwords are in encrypted form.

       -S, --stdout
	   Report encrypted passwords to stdout instead of updating password file.

       -h, --help
	   Display help message and exit.

       -m, --md5
	   Use MD5 encryption instead of DES when the supplied passwords are not encrypted.

       -s, --sha-rounds ROUNDS
	   Use the specified number of rounds to encrypt the passwords.

	   The value 0 means that the system will choose the default number of rounds for the crypt method (5000).

	   A minimal value of 1000 and a maximal value of 999,999,999 will be enforced.

	   You can only use this option with the SHA256 or SHA512 crypt method.

	   By default, the number of rounds is defined by the SHA_CRYPT_MIN_ROUNDS and SHA_CRYPT_MAX_ROUNDS variables in /etc/login.defs.

CAVEATS

       Remember to set permissions or umask to prevent readability of unencrypted files by other users.

CONFIGURATION

       The following configuration variables in /etc/login.defs change the behavior of this tool:

       SHA_CRYPT_MIN_ROUNDS (number), SHA_CRYPT_MAX_ROUNDS (number)
	   When ENCRYPT_METHOD is set to SHA256 or SHA512, this defines the number of SHA rounds used by the encryption algorithm by default (when
	   the number of rounds is not specified on the command line).

	   With a lot of rounds, it is more difficult to brute forcing the password. But note also that more CPU resources will be needed to
	   authenticate users.

	   If not specified, the libc will choose the default number of rounds (5000).

	   The values must be inside the 1000-999999999 range.

	   If only one of the SHA_CRYPT_MIN_ROUNDS or SHA_CRYPT_MAX_ROUNDS values is set, then this value will be used.

	   If SHA_CRYPT_MIN_ROUNDS > SHA_CRYPT_MAX_ROUNDS, the highest value will be used.

	   Note: This only affect the generation of group passwords. The generation of user passwords is done by PAM and subject to the PAM
	   configuration. It is recommended to set this variable consistently with the PAM configuration.

FILES

       /etc/passwd
	   User account information.

       /etc/shadow
	   Secure user account information.

       /etc/login.defs
	   Shadow password suite configuration.

       /etc/pam.d/chpasswd
	   PAM configuration for chpasswd.

SEE ALSO

       passwd(1), newusers(8), login.defs(5), useradd(8).

System Management Commands					    06/24/2011							       CHPASSWD(8)