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 his/her password.
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17 The options which apply to the chage command are:
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19 -d, --lastday LAST_DAY
20 Set the number of days since January 1st, 1970 when the password was
21 last changed. The date may also be expressed in the format
22 YYYY-MM-DD (or the format more commonly used in your area).
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24 -E, --expiredate EXPIRE_DATE
25 Set the date or number of days since January 1, 1970 on which the
26 user's account will no longer be accessible. The date may also be
27 expressed in the format YYYY-MM-DD (or the format more commonly used
28 in your area). A user whose account is locked must contact the
29 system administrator before being able to use the system again.
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31 Passing the number -1 as the EXPIRE_DATE will remove an account
32 expiration date.
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34 -h, --help
35 Display help message and exit.
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37 -I, --inactive INACTIVE
38 Set the number of days of inactivity after a password has expired
39 before the account is locked. The INACTIVE option is the number of
40 days of inactivity. A user whose account is locked must contact the
41 system administrator before being able to use the system again.
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43 Passing the number -1 as the INACTIVE will remove an account's
44 inactivity.
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46 -l, --list
47 Show account aging information.
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49 -m, --mindays MIN_DAYS
50 Set the minimum number of days between password changes to MIN_DAYS.
51 A value of zero for this field indicates that the user may change
52 his/her password at any time.
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54 -M, --maxdays MAX_DAYS
55 Set the maximum number of days during which a password is valid.
56 When MAX_DAYS plus LAST_DAY is less than the current day, the user
57 will be required to change his/her password before being able to use
58 his/her account. This occurrence can be planned for in advance by
59 use of the -W option, which provides the user with advance warning.
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61 Passing the number -1 as MAX_DAYS will remove checking a password's
62 validity.
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64 -W, --warndays WARN_DAYS
65 Set the number of days of warning before a password change is
66 required. The WARN_DAYS option is the number of days prior to the
67 password expiring that a user will be warned his/her password is
68 about to expire.
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70 If none of the options are selected, chage operates in an interactive
71 fashion, prompting the user with the current values for all of the
72 fields. Enter the new value to change the field, or leave the line
73 blank to use the current value. The current value is displayed between
74 a pair of [ ] marks.
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77 The chage program requires a shadow password file to be available.
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79 The chage command is restricted to the root user, except for the -l
80 option, which may be used by an unprivileged user to determine when
81 his/her password or account is due to expire.
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84 /etc/passwd
85 User account information.
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87 /etc/shadow
88 Secure user account information.
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91 The chage command exits with the following values:
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93 0 success
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95 1 permission denied
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97 2 invalid command syntax
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99 15 can't find the shadow password file
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102 passwd(5), shadow(5).
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106User Commands 07/30/2006 CHAGE(1)