Solaris

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!

Yes, changing the default values won't have effect for the existing user accounts.

If you want to have the new value to apply for existing accounts use chage <options> <username> , might be a good option to put in a script if its more number of users

---------- Post updated at 04:07 PM ---------- Previous update was at 03:49 PM ----------

I though the OS is Linux, so chage won't work, might be a option in passwd command

i think it had fail in sync for sync try this commands
#pwconv
#pwck
#pwgrp