.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
.\"
.\" @(#)chpass.1 8.2 (Berkeley) 12/30/93
+.\" $Id$
.\"
.Dd December 30, 1993
.Dt CHPASS 1
.Nm chpass, chfn, chsh, ypchpass, ypchfn, ypchsh
.Nd add or change user database information
.Sh SYNOPSIS
-chpass
+.Nm chpass
.Op Fl a Ar list
.Op Fl p Ar encpass
.Op Fl s Ar newshell
Currently,
.Nm chpass
can only make changes to the NIS passwd maps through
-.Xr yppasswdd 8 ,
-which only permits changes to a user's password, shell and gecos
-fields. It can not be used to change other user information or to
-add new records to the NIS passwd maps. (Doing that would require
-something such as ypupdated, which is not yet supported.)
+.Xr rpc.yppasswdd 8 ,
+which normally only permits changes to a user's password, shell and GECOS
+fields. Except when invoked by the super-user on the NIS master server,
+.Nm chpass
+(and, similarly,
+.Xr passwd 1 )
+can not use the
+.Xr rpc.yppasswdd 8
+server to change other user information or
+add new records to the NIS passwd maps.
Furthermore,
-.Xr yppasswdd 8
+.Xr rpc.yppasswdd 8
requires password authentication before it will make any
-changes, even if it receives a request from the super-user.
+changes. The only user allowed to submit changes without supplying
+a password is the super-user on the NIS master server; all other users,
+including those with root privileges on NIS clients (and NIS slave
+servers) must enter a password.
+(The super-user on the NIS master is allowed to bypass these restrictions
+largely for convenience: a user with root access
+to the NIS master server already has the privileges required to make
+updates to the NIS maps, but editing the map source files by hand can
+be cumbersome.
+.Pp
+Note: these exceptions only apply when the NIS master server is a
+FreeBSD system.)
.Pp
-As a result, the following restrictions apply when
+Consequently, except where noted, the following restrictions apply when
.Nm chpass
is used with NIS:
.Bl -enum -offset indent
.It
-.Pa Only the shell and gecos information may be changed.
+.Pa Only the shell and GECOS information may be changed.
All other
fields are restricted, even when
.Nm chpass
-is invoked by the super-user, because the
-.Xr yppasswdd 8
-daemon has no support for updating them. While support for
+is invoked by the super-user.
+While support for
changing other fields could be added, this would lead to
compatibility problems with other NIS-capable systems.
Even though the super-user may supply data for other fields
while editing an entry, the extra information (other than the
password -- see below) will be silently discarded.
+.Pp
+Exception: the super-user on the NIS master server is permitted to
+change any field.
+.Pp
.It
.Pa Password authentication is required.
.Nm Chpass
will prompt for the user's NIS password before effecting
any changes. If the password is invalid, all changes will be
discarded.
+.Pp
+Exception: the super-user on the NIS master server is allowed to
+submit changes without supplying a password. (The super-user may
+choose to turn off this feature using the
+.Fl o
+flag, described below.)
.It
.Pa Adding new records to the local
.Pa password database is discouraged.
.Xr vipw 8
to modify the local password
file when NIS is running.
+.Pp
+The super-user on the NIS master server is permitted to add new records
+to the NIS password maps, provided the
+.Xr rpc.yppasswdd 8
+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
+NIS maps instead, invoke chpass with the
+.Fl y
+flag.
.It
.Pa Password changes are not permitted.
Users should use
up in the editor template, the super-user may add it back by hand),
but even the super-user must supply the user's original password
otherwise
-.Xr yppasswdd 8
+.Xr rpc.yppasswdd 8
will refuse to update the NIS maps.
+.Pp
+Exception: the super-user on the NIS master server is permitted to
+change a user's NIS password with
+.Nm chpass .
.El
.Pp
-There are also two extra option flags that are available when
+There are also a few extra option flags that are available when
.Nm chpass
is compiled with NIS support:
.Bl -tag -width flag
This flag is largely redundant since
.Nm chpass
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
+.Xr domainname 1
+command. The
+.Fl d
+option can be used to override a default, or to specify a domain
+when the system domain name is not set.
+.It Fl h Ar host
+Specify the name or address of an NIS server to query. Normally,
+.Nm chpass
+will communicate with the NIS master host specified in the
+.Pa master.passwd
+or
+.Pa passwd
+maps. On hosts that have not been configured as NIS clients, there is
+no way for the program to determine this information unless the user
+provides the hostname of a server. Note that the specified hostname need
+not be that of the NIS master server; the name of any server, master or
+slave, in a given NIS domain will do.
+.Pp
+When using the
+.Fl d
+option, the hostname defaults to ``localhost.'' The
+.Fl h
+option can be used in conjunction with the
+.Fl d
+option, in which case the user-specified hostname will override
+the default.
+.Pp
+.It Fl o
+Force the use of RPC-based updates when communicating with
+.Xr rpc.yppasswdd 8
+(``old-mode'').
+When invoked by the super-user on the NIS master server,
+.Nm chpass
+allows unrestricted changes to the NIS passwd maps using dedicated,
+non-RPC-based mechanism (in this case, a UNIX domain socket). The
+.Fl o
+flag can be used to force
+.Nm chpass
+to use the standard update mechanism instead. This option is provided
+mainly for testing purposes.
.El
.Pp
.Sh FILES
The list of approved shells
.El
.Sh SEE ALSO
-.Xr login 1 ,
.Xr finger 1 ,
+.Xr login 1 ,
.Xr passwd 1 ,
.Xr getusershell 3 ,
.Xr passwd 5 ,
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