CHAGE(1)
CHAGE(1) User Commands CHAGE(1)
NAME
chage - change user password expiry information
SYNOPSIS
chage [options] user
DESCRIPTION
chage command changes the number of days between password changes and
the date of the last password change. This information is used by the
system to determine when a user must change her password.
OPTIONS
The options which apply to the chage command are:
-d, --lastday LAST_DAY
Set the number of days since January 1st, 1970 when the password
was last changed. The date may also be expressed in the format
YYYY-MM-DD (or the format more commonly used in your area).
-E, --expiredate EXPIRE_DATE
Set the date number of days since January 1, 1970 on which the
user’s account will no longer be accessible. The date may also
be expressed in the format YYYY-MM-DD (or the format more
commonly used in your area). A user whose account is locked must
contact the system administrator before being able to use the
system again.
Passing the number -1 as the EXPIRE_DATE will remove an account
expiration date.
-h, --help
Display help message and exit.
-I, --inactive INACTIVE
Set the number of days of inactivity after a password has
expired before the account is locked. The INACTIVE option is the
number of days of inactivity. A user whose account is locked
must contact the system administrator before being able to use
the system again.
Passing the number -1 as the INACTIVE will remove an accounts
inactivity.
-l, --list
Show account aging information.
-m, --mindays MIN_DAYS
Set the minimum number of days between password changes. A value
of zero for this field indicates that the user may change her
password at any time.
-M, --maxdays MAX_DAYS
Set maximum number of days during which a password is valid.
When MAX_DAYS plus LAST_DAY is less than the current day, the
user will be required to change her password before being able
to use her account. This occurence can be planned for in advance
by use of the -W option, which provides the user with advance
warning.
Passing the number -1 as the MAX_DAYS will remove checking a
password validation.
-W, --warndays WARN_DAYS
Set the number of days of warning before a password change is
required. The WARN_DAYS option is the number of days prior to
the password expiring that a user will be warned her password is
about to expire.
If none of the options are selected, chage operates in an interactive
fashion, prompting the user with the current values for all of the
fields. Enter the new value to change the field, or leave the line
blank to use the current value. The current value is displayed between
a pair of [ ] marks.
NOTE
The chage program requires shadow password file to be available. Its
functionality is not available when passwords are stored in the passwd
file.
The chage command is restricted to the root user, except for the -l
option, which may be used by an unprivileged user to determine when her
password or account is due to expire.
FILES
/etc/passwd
user account information
/etc/shadow
secure user account information
EXIT VALUES
The chage command exits with the following values:
0 success
1 permission denied
2 invalid command syntax
15 can’t find the shadow password file
SEE ALSO
passwd(5), shadow(5).
AUTHOR
Julianne Frances Haugh
User Commands 10/10/2005 CHAGE(1)