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6.20.4. Contents of Shadow

Installed programs: chage, chfn, chgpasswd, chpasswd, chsh, expiry, faillog, gpasswd, groupadd, groupdel, groupmems, groupmod, grpck, grpconv, grpunconv, lastlog, login, logoutd, newgidmap, newgrp, newuidmap, newusers, nologin, passwd, pwck, pwconv, pwunconv, sg (link to newgrp), su, useradd, userdel, usermod, vigr (link to vipw), and vipw

Installed directory: /etc/default


Short Descriptions

chage Used to change the maximum number of days between obligatory password changes

chfn Used to change a user's full name and other information chgpasswd Used to update group passwords in batch mode chpasswd Used to update user passwords in batch mode‌‌

chsh Used to change a user's default login shell

expiry Checks and enforces the current password expiration policy

faillog Is used to examine the log of login failures, to set a maximum number of failures before an account is blocked, or to reset the failure count

gpasswd Is used to add and delete members and administrators to groups

groupadd Creates a group with the given name

groupdel Deletes the group with the given name

groupmems Allows a user to administer his/her own group membership list without the requirement of super user privileges.

groupmod Is used to modify the given group's name or GID

grpck Verifies the integrity of the group files /etc/group and /etc/gshadow grpconv Creates or updates the shadow group file from the normal group file grpunconv Updates /etc/group from /etc/gshadow and then deletes the latter lastlog Reports the most recent login of all users or of a given user‌‌‌

login Is used by the system to let users sign on

logoutd Is a daemon used to enforce restrictions on log-on time and ports

newgidmap Is used to set the gid mapping of a user namespace newgrp Is used to change the current GID during a login session newuidmap Is used to set the uid mapping of a user namespace newusers Is used to create or update an entire series of user accounts‌‌‌

nologin Displays a message that an account is not available; it is designed to be used as the default shell for accounts that have been disabled

passwd Is used to change the password for a user or group account

pwck Verifies the integrity of the password files /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow pwconv Creates or updates the shadow password file from the normal password file pwunconv Updates /etc/passwd from /etc/shadow and then deletes the latter‌‌


sg Executes a given command while the user's GID is set to that of the given group

su Runs a shell with substitute user and group IDs

useradd Creates a new user with the given name, or updates the default new-user information

userdel Deletes the given user account

usermod Is used to modify the given user's login name, User Identification (UID), shell, initial group, home directory, etc.

vigr Edits the /etc/group or /etc/gshadow files

vipw Edits the /etc/passwd or /etc/shadow files


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