MAN page from RedHat 6.X shadow-utils-980403-12.i386.rpm

CHAGE

Section: User Commands (1)
Index

NAME

chage - change user password expiry information

SYNOPSIS

chage: [-m mindays] [-M maxdays][-d lastday] [-I inactive]
[-E expiredate] [-W warndays] user
chage: -l user

DESCRIPTION

chage changes the number of days between password changes and thedate of the last password change.This information is used by the system to determine when a user mustchange her password.The chage command is restricted to the root user, except for the-l option, which may be used by an unprivileged user to determinewhen her password or account is due to expire.

With the -m option, the value of mindays is the minimum numberof days between password changes.A value of zero for this field indicates that the user may changeher password at any time.

With the -M option, the value of maxdays is the maximum numberof days during which a password is valid.When maxdays plus lastday is less than the current day,the user will be required to change her password before beingable to use her account.This occurance can be planned for in advance by use of the -W option,which provides the user with advance warning.

With the -d option, the value of lastday is the number of dayssince January 1st, 1970 when the password was last changed.The date may also be expressed in the format MM/DD/YY (or the format morecommonly used in your area).

The -E option is used to set a date on which the user's account willno longer be accessible.The expiredate option is the number of days since January 1, 1970 onwhich the accounted is locked.The date may also be expressed in the format MM/DD/YY (or the format morecommonly used in your area).A user whose account is locked must contact the system administrator beforebeing able to use the system again.

The -I option is used to set the number of days of inactivity aftera password has expired before the account is locked.A user whose account is locked must contact the system administrator beforebeing able to use the system again.The inactive option is the number of days of inactivity. A value of0 disables this feature.

The -W option is used to set the number of days of warning before apassword change is required.The warndays option is the number of days prior to the passwordexpiring that a user will be warned her password is about to expire.

All of the above values are stored exactly as days when the shadowpassword file is used, but are converted to and from weeks when thestandard password file is used.Because of this conversion, rounding errors may result.

If none of the options are selected, chage operates in an interactivefashion, prompting the user with the current values for all of the fields.Enter the new value to change the field, or leave the line blank to usethe current value.The current value is displayed between a pair of [ ] marks.

FILES

/etc/passwd - user account information
/etc/shadow - shadow user account information

AUTHOR

Julianne Frances Haugh (jfhAATTtab.com)

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