.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm
-program
+utility
allows editing of the user database information associated
with
.Ar user
or, by default, the current user.
+.Pp
+The
+.Nm chfn ,
+.Nm chsh ,
+.Nm ypchpass ,
+.Nm ypchfn
+and
+.Nm ypchsh
+utilities behave identically to
+.Nm .
+(There is only one program.)
+.Pp
The information is formatted and supplied to an editor for changes.
.Pp
Only the information that the user is allowed to change is displayed.
across a group of systems) as they control file access.
.Pp
While it is possible to have multiple entries with identical login names
-and/or identical user id's, it is usually a mistake to do so. Routines
+and/or identical user id's, it is usually a mistake to do so.
+Routines
that manipulate these files will often return only one of the multiple
entries, and that one by random selection.
.Pp
.Ev PW_SCAN_BIG_IDS
environment variable.
.Sh NIS INTERACTION
-.Nm Chpass
-can also be used in conjunction with NIS, however some restrictions
+The
+.Nm
+utility can also be used in conjunction with NIS, however some restrictions
apply.
Currently,
.Nm
.Pp
.It
.Em "Password authentication is required" .
-.Nm Chpass
-will prompt for the user's NIS password before effecting
+The
+.Nm
+utility will prompt for the user's NIS password before effecting
any changes.
If the password is invalid, all changes will be
discarded.
flag, described below.)
.It
.Em "Adding new records to the local password database is discouraged" .
-.Nm Chpass
-will allow the administrator to add new records to the
+The
+.Nm
+utility will allow the administrator to add new records to the
local password database while NIS is enabled, but this can lead to
some confusion since the new records are appended to the end of
the master password file, usually after the special NIS '+' entries.
server has been started with the
.Fl a
flag to permitted additions (it refuses them by default).
-.Nm Chpass
-tries to update the local password database by default; to update the
+The
+.Nm
+utility tries to update the local password database by default; to update the
NIS maps instead, invoke chpass with the
.Fl y
flag.
Force
.Nm
to modify the local copy of a user's password
-information in the even that a user exists in both
+information in the event that a user exists in both
the local and NIS databases.
.It Fl y
Opposite effect of
operates on NIS entries by default if NIS is enabled.
.It Fl d Ar domain
Specify a particular NIS domain.
-.Nm Chpass
-uses the system domain name by default, as set by the
+The
+.Nm
+utility uses the system domain name by default, as set by the
.Xr domainname 1
-command.
+utility.
The
.Fl d
option can be used to override a default, or to specify a domain
allows unrestricted changes to the NIS passwd maps using dedicated,
non-RPC-based mechanism (in this case, a
.Ux
-domain socket). The
+domain socket).
+The
.Fl o
flag can be used to force
.Nm
.%A Ken Thompson
.%T "UNIX Password security"
.Re
-.Sh NOTES
-The
-.Xr chfn 1 ,
-.Xr chsh 1 ,
-.Xr ypchpass 1 ,
-.Xr ypchfn 1
-and
-.Xr ypchsh 1
-commands are really only links to
-.Nm .
.Sh BUGS
User information should (and eventually will) be stored elsewhere.
.Sh HISTORY
The
.Nm
-command appeared in
+utility appeared in
.Bx 4.3 Reno .