1CHAGE(1) User Commands CHAGE(1)
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6 chage - change user password expiry information
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9 chage [options] LOGIN
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12 The chage command changes the number of days between password changes
13 and the date of the last password change. This information is used by
14 the system to determine when a user must change their password.
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17 The options which apply to the chage command are:
18 -d, --lastday LAST_DAY
20 Set the number of days since January 1st, 1970 when the password
21 was last changed. The date may also be expressed in the format
22 YYYY-MM-DD (or the format more commonly used in your area). If the
23 LAST_DAY is set to 0 the user is forced to change his password on
24 the next log on.
25 -E, --expiredate EXPIRE_DATE
27 Set the date or number of days since January 1, 1970 on which the
28 user's account will no longer be accessible. The date may also be
29 expressed in the format YYYY-MM-DD (or the format more commonly
30 used in your area). A user whose account is locked must contact the
31 system administrator before being able to use the system again.
32 For example the following can be used to set an account to expire
34 in 180 days:
35 chage -E $(date -d +180days +%Y-%m-%d)
37 Passing the number -1 as the EXPIRE_DATE will remove an account
40 expiration date.
41 -h, --help
43 Display help message and exit.
44 -I, --inactive INACTIVE
46 Set the number of days of inactivity after a password has expired
47 before the account is locked. The INACTIVE option is the number of
48 days of inactivity. A user whose account is locked must contact the
49 system administrator before being able to use the system again.
50 Passing the number -1 as the INACTIVE will remove an account's
52 inactivity.
53 -l, --list
55 Show account aging information.
56 -m, --mindays MIN_DAYS
58 Set the minimum number of days between password changes to
59 MIN_DAYS. A value of zero for this field indicates that the user
60 may change their password at any time.
61 -M, --maxdays MAX_DAYS
63 Set the maximum number of days during which a password is valid.
64 When MAX_DAYS plus LAST_DAY is less than the current day, the user
65 will be required to change their password before being able to use
66 their account. This occurrence can be planned for in advance by use
67 of the -W option, which provides the user with advance warning.
68 Passing the number -1 as MAX_DAYS will remove checking a password's
70 validity.
71 -R, --root CHROOT_DIR
73 Apply changes in the CHROOT_DIR directory and use the configuration
74 files from the CHROOT_DIR directory.
75 -W, --warndays WARN_DAYS
77 Set the number of days of warning before a password change is
78 required. The WARN_DAYS option is the number of days prior to the
79 password expiring that a user will be warned their password is
80 about to expire.
81 If none of the options are selected, chage operates in an interactive
83 fashion, prompting the user with the current values for all of the
84 fields. Enter the new value to change the field, or leave the line
85 blank to use the current value. The current value is displayed between
86 a pair of [ ] marks.
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89 The chage program requires a shadow password file to be available.
90 The chage command is restricted to the root user, except for the -l
92 option, which may be used by an unprivileged user to determine when
93 their password or account is due to expire.
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96 The following configuration variables in /etc/login.defs change the
97 behavior of this tool:
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100 /etc/passwd
101 User account information.
102 /etc/shadow
104 Secure user account information.
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107 The chage command exits with the following values:
108 0
110 success
111 1
113 permission denied
114 2
116 invalid command syntax
117 15
119 can't find the shadow password file
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122 passwd(5), shadow(5).
123shadow-utils 4.6 02/02/2019 CHAGE(1)