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5.2.2. Modifying an Existing Account or Password‌

The following commands allow modification of the information stored in specific fields of the user databases:

• passwd—permits a regular user to change their password, which in turn, updates the /etc/ shadow file.

• chfn—(CHange Full Name), reserved for the super-user (root), modifies the GECOS, or ”gen- eral information” field.

• chsh—(CHange SHell) changes the user’s login shell. However, available choices will be lim- ited to those listed in /etc/shells; the administrator, on the other hand, is not bound by this restriction and can set the shell to any program chosen.

• chage—(CHange AGE) allows the administrator to change the password expiration settings by passing the user name as an argument or list current settings using the -l user option.

Alternatively, you can also force the expiration of a password using the passwd -e user

command, which forces the user to change their password the next time they log in.

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