Shell Programming and Scripting

Hey guys just wondering how i could lock a specific acount by prepending LK
to the password field in the /etc/shadow file.

it cannot be done through a command since the script gets called by a menu driven interface so i cant use "passwd". Is there a way where i can search for a specific account then maybe write to the file which the field needs LK?

Its a bash script by the way
thanks

Just use:

Lock account:
passwd -l {username}

Unlock:
passwd -u {username}


The string *LK* will appear in the password field for locked accounts in /etc/shadow

Yehhh but is there a way that i can do it without using passwd -l {username}

like if i can code something to directly modify the shoadow file without using the passwd command

maybe write to the shadow file

Ok, I have to ask, why would you want to do it anyother way.

If you dont have permissions to passwd you wont to /etc/shadow or /etc/passwd

For the project we are doing where not aloud to use any commands like passwd we have to modify the shadow directly they just love making things hard for us

Im testing it on my own machine as root

On most unixes with a shadow file you'll need to run "pwconv" immediately after a manual edit.
See "man pwconv" an check against your local circumstances.

So is there a way to actually write to the shadow file and prepend LK to the file so you can lock it
without using the commands.