passwd

NAME

       passwd - change password

SYNOPSIS

       passwd [ name [ password ] ]

DESCRIPTION

       Without  arguments passwd will change the password for the
       current user. First the user is asked for  the  old  pass-
       word, then prompted twice for the new password in order to
       catch typing errors. The new password must be at least six
       characters  long,  and have both upper and lower case let-
       ters or non-letters. The new password must not be equal to
       the old password, and it must not match the username.

       The  one  and  two  argument forms may only be used by the
       superuser. Using the one argument form, the superuser  may
       change  the  password for that user.  The superuser is not
       asked for the users old password, and the rules for proper
       passwords  are  not  applied  since the superuser may have
       legitimate reasons to choose a non-conformant password.

       The two argument form gives the user the  password  stated
       as  the  second  argument.  This may be useful when giving
       many users an initial generated password.

       Giving an empty string as the second argument  erases  the
       password for the user.

FILES

       /etc/passwd
       /etc/shells

SEE ALSO

       chsh(1), chfn(1)

BUGS

       A password consisting of all digits is allowed.
       No  warnings  are  printed if the superuser chooses a poor
       password.
       The -f and -s options are not supported.

AUTHOR

       Peter Orbaek (poe@daimi.aau.dk)