PASSWD(1-SysV)      RISC/os Reference Manual       PASSWD(1-SysV)



NAME
     passwd - change login password

SYNOPSIS
     passwd [ name ]

DESCRIPTION
     This command changes or installs a password associated with
     the login name.

     Ordinary users may change only the password which
     corresponds to their login name.

     passwd prompts ordinary users for their old password, if
     any.  It then prompts for the new password twice. The first
     time the new password is entered passwd checks to see if the
     old password has ``aged'' sufficiently. Password "aging" is
     the amount of time (usually a certain number of days) that
     must elapse between password changes.  If ``aging'' is
     insufficient the new password is rejected and passwd ter-
     minates;  see passwd(4).

     Assuming ``aging'' is sufficient, a check is made to insure
     that the new password meets construction requirements.  When
     the new password is entered a second time, the two copies of
     the new password are compared.  If the two copies are not
     identical the cycle of prompting for the new password is
     repeated for at most two more times.

     Passwords must be constructed to meet certain requirements.
     By default, the following rules apply:

          Each password must have at least six characters.  Only
          the first eight characters are significant.

          Each password must contain at least two alphabetic
          characters and at least one numeric or special charac-
          ter.  In this case, ``alphabetic'' means upper and
          lower case letters.

          Each password must differ from the user's login name
          and any reverse or circular shift of that login name.
          For comparison purposes, an upper case letter and its
          corresponding lower case letter are equivalent.

          New passwords must differ from the old by at least
          three characters.  For comparison purposes, an upper
          case letter and its corresponding lower case letter are
          equivalent.

     Your system administrator may tighten or relax these rules
     by setting up the file /etc/passwd.conf.



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PASSWD(1-SysV)      RISC/os Reference Manual       PASSWD(1-SysV)



     One whose effective user ID is zero is called a super-user;
     see su(1M).  Super-users may change any password; hence,
     passwd does not prompt super-users for the old password.
     Super-users are not forced to comply with password aging and
     password construction requirements.  A super-user can create
     a null password by entering a carriage return in response to
     the prompt for a new password.

FILES
     /etc/passwd

SEE ALSO
     login(1).
     crypt(3C), passwd(4), passwd.conf(4) in the Programmer's
     Reference Manual.
     su(1M) in the System Administrator's Reference Manual.







































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