PASSWD(C) XENIX System V PASSWD(C)
Name
passwd - Changes login password.
Syntax
passwd name
Description
This command changes (or installs) a password associated
with the login name.
The program prompts for the old password (if any) and then
for the new one (twice). The user must supply these.
Passwords can be of any reasonable length, but only the
first eight characters of the password are significant. The
minimum number of characters allowed in a new password is
determined by the PASSLENGTH variable. Although the minimum
can be 3, a minimum of 5 characters is strongly recommended
since passwords shorter than this are much easier to guess
or discover by trial and error.
Only the owner of the name or the super-user may change a
password; the owner must prove he knows the old password.
Only the super-user can create a null password.
The password file is not changed if the new password is the
same as the old password, or if the password has not
``aged'' sufficiently. See passwd(F).
The minimum length of a legal password, and the minimum and
maximum number of weeks used in password aging are specified
in /etc/default/passwd by the variables PASSLENGTH, MINWEEKS
and MAXWEEKS. If not explicitly set, the default values for
these variables are:
PASSLENGTH=5
MINWEEKS=2
MAXWEEKS=4
MINWEEKS and MAXWEEKS values must be in the range 0 to 63.
If PASSLENGTH is not in the range 3 to 8, it is set to 5.
Notes
When a user changes his or her password, that user's group
becomes the group assigned to /etc/passwd. This can be
verified by entering the following command after
successfully using passwd:
l /etc/passwd
Files
/etc/default/passwd
/etc/passwd
See Also
default(F), login(M), passwd(F), pwadmin(ADM)
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