PASSWD(1) General Commands Manual PASSWD(1)NAME
passwd, chfn, chsh - change a login password, full name or shell
SYNOPSIS
passwd [user]
chfn [user] fullname
chfn [user] shell
EXAMPLES
passwd # Change current user's password
passwd ast # Change ast's password (super-user only)
chsh /usr/bin/mail # For those who only read mail
chfn 'Jane Doe' # Current user is Jane Doe
DESCRIPTION
Passwd is used to change your password. It prompts for the old and new passwords. It asks for the new password twice, to reduce the
effect of a typing error. Chfn changes the full name (GECOS field) in the password file. Chsh changes your login shell. Do not forget to
copy the modified password file back to the root file system, or the changes will be lost when the system is rebooted.
SEE ALSO login(1), su(1), crypt(3), getpwent(3).
PASSWD(1)
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yppasswd(1) General Commands Manual yppasswd(1)NAME
yppasswd, ypchfn, ypchsh - change your password in the NIS database
SYNOPSIS
yppasswd [-f] [-l] [-p] [user]
ypchfn [user]
ypchsh [user]
DESCRIPTION
The standard passwd(1), chfn(1) and chsh(1) cannot be used under Linux to change the users NIS password, shell and GECOS information,
because they only modify the password file on the local host. For changing the NIS information, they are replaced by their NIS counter-
parts, yppasswd, ypchfn and ypchsh.
These commands are the same program, linked to different names. Using the command line switches, you can choose whether to update your
password -p, your login shell -l, or your GECOS field -f, or a combination of them. yppasswd implies the -p option, if no other option is
given. If you use the -f or -l option, you also need to add the -p flag. ypchfn implies the -f option, and ypchsh -l.
When invoked without the user argument, the account information for the invoking user will be updated, otherwise that of user will be
updated. This option is only available to the super-user. If the yppasswdd daemon on the server supports it, you can give the root password
of the server instead of the users [old] password.
All tools will first prompt the user for the current NIS password needed for authentication with the yppasswdd(8) daemon. Subsequently, the
program prompts for the updated information:
yppasswd or -l
Change the user's NIS password. The user is prompted for the new password. While typing the password, echoing is turned off, so
the password does not appear on the screen. An empty password is rejected, as are passwords shorter than six characters. The user
will then be requested to retype the password to make sure it wasn't misspelled the first time.
ypchsh or -l
Change the user's login shell. The user is prompted for a new shell, offering the old one as default:
Login shell [/bin/sh]: _
To accept the default, simply press return. To clear the shell field in your passwd(5) file entry (so that the system's default
shell is selected), enter the string none.
ypchfn or -f
Change the user's full name and related information. Traditionally, some applications expect the GECOS field (field 4) of the
passwd(5) file to contain the user's real name (as opposed to the login name) plus some additional information like the office phone
number. This information is displayed by finger(1) and probably some other tools, too.
When setting the full name, ypchfn displays the following prompts, with the defaults in brackets:
Name [Joe Doe]:
Location [2nd floor, bldg 34]:
Office Phone [12345]:
Home Phone []:
To accept a default, simply press return. To clear a field, enter the string none.
SEE ALSO chfn(1), chsh(1), finger(1), passwd(5), passwd(1), ypcat(1), yppasswdd(8), ypserv(8), ypwhich(1)AUTHOR
yppasswd is part of the yp-tools package, which was written by Thorsten Kukuk <kukuk@suse.de>.
YP Tools 2.7 May 1998 yppasswd(1)