bsd man page for passwd

PASSWD(1)						      General Commands Manual							 PASSWD(1)

NAME
       passwd - change password file information

SYNOPSIS
       passwd [ user ]

DESCRIPTION
       Passwd  changes	the  user's password.  First, the user is prompted for their old password, and then, if that is correct, for the new pass-
       word.  The new password must be entered twice to forestall any typing errors.  The super-user is not prompted for the old password.

       Once the password has been verified, passwd uses mkpasswd(8) to update the user database.  This is run in  the  background,  and,  at  very
       large  sites  could  take  several minutes.  Until this update is completed, the password file is unavailable for other updates and the new
       password will not be available to programs.

FILES
       /etc/master.passwd	the user database

SEE ALSO
       chpass(1), login(1), passwd(5), mkpasswd(8), vipw(8)
       Robert Morris and Ken Thompson, UNIX password security

4th Berkeley Distribution					 February 22, 1989							 PASSWD(1)