Does changing default password parms affect existing accounts in /etc/shadow? Post: 302504885

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Operating Systems Solaris Does changing default password parms affect existing accounts in /etc/shadow? Post 302504885 by msdjunk on Tuesday 15th of March 2011 04:54:55 PM

03-15-2011

Registered User

Does changing default password parms affect existing accounts in /etc/shadow?

Are the default password setting parameters (that are in /etc/login.defs) only used when a new local account is created on a server?

It looks to me like a 'useradd userid1' command will look to the /etc/login.defs file to get default values for MINWEEKS MAXWEEKS and PASSLENGTH. If the parms are found they are added to their respective fields in the /etc/shadow file for userid1.

After the account is created, if the default parm values for MINWEEKS MAXWEEKS and PASSLENGTH in /etc/login.defs are changed, could the new values possibly affect the values already stored in the /etc/shadow file for userid1?

It seems to me that those values in the /etc/login.defs file are only used when creating a new account - and existing accounts are not affected when the default values are changed in /etc/login.defs.

Do I have a correct understanding of how the default values are used?

If not, please tell me what I've missed.

Thanks for your help!

msdjunk

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LEARN ABOUT ULTRIX

newgrp

NEWGRP(1)							   User Commands							 NEWGRP(1)

NAME

       newgrp - log in to a new group

SYNOPSIS

       newgrp [-] [group]

DESCRIPTION

       The newgrp command is used to change the current group ID during a login session. If the optional - flag is given, the user's environment
       will be reinitialized as though the user had logged in, otherwise the current environment, including current working directory, remains
       unchanged.

       newgrp changes the current real group ID to the named group, or to the default group listed in /etc/passwd if no group name is given.
       newgrp also tries to add the group to the user groupset. If not root, the user will be prompted for a password if she does not have a
       password (in /etc/shadow if this user has an entry in the shadowed password file, or in /etc/passwd otherwise) and the group does, or if
       the user is not listed as a member and the group has a password. The user will be denied access if the group password is empty and the user
       is not listed as a member.

       If there is an entry for this group in /etc/gshadow, then the list of members and the password of this group will be taken from this file,
       otherwise, the entry in /etc/group is considered.

CONFIGURATION

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

       SYSLOG_SG_ENAB (boolean)
	   Enable "syslog" logging of sg activity.

FILES

       /etc/passwd
	   User account information.

       /etc/shadow
	   Secure user account information.

       /etc/group
	   Group account information.

       /etc/gshadow
	   Secure group account information.

SEE ALSO

       id(1), login(1), su(1), sg(1), gpasswd(1), group(5), gshadow(5).

shadow-utils 4.5						    01/25/2018								 NEWGRP(1)

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