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32 .\" @(#)chpass.1 8.2 (Berkeley) 12/30/93
38 .Nm chpass, chfn, chsh, ypchpass, ypchfn, ypchsh
39 .Nd add or change user database information
50 allows editing of the user database information associated
53 or, by default, the current user.
54 The information is formatted and supplied to an editor for changes.
56 Only the information that the user is allowed to change is displayed.
58 The options are as follows:
61 The super-user is allowed to directly supply a user database
62 entry, in the format specified by
65 This argument must be a colon (``:'') separated list of all the
66 user database fields, although they may be empty.
68 The super-user is allowed to directly supply an encrypted password field,
75 option attempts to change the user's shell to
79 Possible display items are as follows:
81 .Bl -tag -width "Home Directory:" -compact -offset indent
85 user's encrypted password
93 account expiration time
95 user's general classification
103 user's normal location
112 field is the user name used to access the computer account.
116 field contains the encrypted form of the user's password.
120 field is the number associated with the
123 Both of these fields should be unique across the system (and often
124 across a group of systems) as they control file access.
126 While it is possible to have multiple entries with identical login names
127 and/or identical user id's, it is usually a mistake to do so. Routines
128 that manipulate these files will often return only one of the multiple
129 entries, and that one by random selection.
133 field is the group that the user will be placed in at login.
134 Since BSD supports multiple groups (see
136 this field currently has little special meaning.
137 This field may be filled in with either a number or a group name (see
142 field is the date by which the password must be changed.
146 field is the date on which the account expires.
152 fields should be entered in the form ``month day year'' where
154 is the month name (the first three characters are sufficient),
156 is the day of the month, and
162 field is currently unused. In the near future it will be a key to
165 style database of user attributes.
169 is the full UNIX path name where the user
170 will be placed at login.
174 field is the command interpreter the user prefers.
177 field is empty, the Bourne shell,
180 When altering a login shell, and not the super-user, the user
181 may not change from a non-standard shell or to a non-standard
183 Non-standard is defined as a shell not found in
186 The last four fields are for storing the user's
187 .Ar full name , office location ,
194 Once the information has been verified,
198 to update the user database.
202 editor will be used unless the environment variable EDITOR is set to
204 When the editor terminates, the information is re-read and used to
205 update the user database itself.
206 Only the user, or the super-user, may edit the information associated
210 can also be used in conjunction with NIS, however some restrictions
214 can only make changes to the NIS passwd maps through
215 .Xr rpc.yppasswdd 8 ,
216 which normally only permits changes to a user's password, shell and GECOS
217 fields. Except when invoked by the super-user on the NIS master server,
223 server to change other user information or
224 add new records to the NIS passwd maps.
227 requires password authentication before it will make any
228 changes. The only user allowed to submit changes without supplying
229 a password is the super-user on the NIS master server; all other users,
230 including those with root privileges on NIS clients (and NIS slave
231 servers) must enter a password.
232 (The super-user on the NIS master is allowed to bypass these restrictions
233 largely for convenience: a user with root access
234 to the NIS master server already has the privileges required to make
235 updates to the NIS maps, but editing the map source files by hand can
238 Note: these exceptions only apply when the NIS master server is a
241 Consequently, except where noted, the following restrictions apply when
244 .Bl -enum -offset indent
246 .Pa Only the shell and GECOS information may be changed.
248 fields are restricted, even when
250 is invoked by the super-user.
252 changing other fields could be added, this would lead to
253 compatibility problems with other NIS-capable systems.
254 Even though the super-user may supply data for other fields
255 while editing an entry, the extra information (other than the
256 password -- see below) will be silently discarded.
258 Exception: the super-user on the NIS master server is permitted to
262 .Pa Password authentication is required.
264 will prompt for the user's NIS password before effecting
265 any changes. If the password is invalid, all changes will be
268 Exception: the super-user on the NIS master server is allowed to
269 submit changes without supplying a password. (The super-user may
270 choose to turn off this feature using the
272 flag, described below.)
274 .Pa Adding new records to the local
275 .Pa password database is discouraged.
277 will allow the administrator to add new records to the
278 local password database while NIS is enabled, but this can lead to
279 some confusion since the new records are appended to the end of
280 the master password file, usually after the special NIS '+' entries.
281 The administrator should use
283 to modify the local password
284 file when NIS is running.
286 The super-user on the NIS master server is permitted to add new records
287 to the NIS password maps, provided the
289 server has been started with the
291 flag to permitted additions (it refuses them by default).
293 tries to update the local password database by default; to update the
294 NIS maps instead, invoke chpass with the
298 .Pa Password changes are not permitted.
303 to change their NIS passwords. The super-user is allowed to specify
304 a new password (even though the ``Password:'' field does not show
305 up in the editor template, the super-user may add it back by hand),
306 but even the super-user must supply the user's original password
309 will refuse to update the NIS maps.
311 Exception: the super-user on the NIS master server is permitted to
312 change a user's NIS password with
316 There are also a few extra option flags that are available when
318 is compiled with NIS support:
325 to modify the local copy of a user's password
326 information in the even that a user exists in both
327 the local and NIS databases.
329 This flag has the opposite effect of
331 This flag is largely redundant since
333 operates on NIS entries by default if NIS is enabled.
335 Specify a particular NIS domain.
337 uses the system domain name by default, as set by the
341 option can be used to override a default, or to specify a domain
342 when the system domain name is not set.
344 Specify the name or address of an NIS server to query. Normally,
346 will communicate with the NIS master host specified in the
350 maps. On hosts that have not been configured as NIS clients, there is
351 no way for the program to determine this information unless the user
352 provides the hostname of a server. Note that the specified hostname need
353 not be that of the NIS master server; the name of any server, master or
354 slave, in a given NIS domain will do.
358 option, the hostname defaults to ``localhost.'' The
360 option can be used in conjunction with the
362 option, in which case the user-specified hostname will override
366 Force the use of RPC-based updates when communicating with
369 When invoked by the super-user on the NIS master server,
371 allows unrestricted changes to the NIS passwd maps using dedicated,
372 non-RPC-based mechanism (in this case, a UNIX domain socket). The
374 flag can be used to force
376 to use the standard update mechanism instead. This option is provided
377 mainly for testing purposes.
381 .Bl -tag -width /etc/master.passwd -compact
382 .It Pa /etc/master.passwd
385 A Version 7 format password file
386 .It Pa /etc/chpass.XXXXXX
387 Temporary copy of the password file
389 The list of approved shells
403 .%T "UNIX Password security"
413 commands are really only links to
416 User information should (and eventually will) be stored elsewhere.