chage

List password information for the user

Enable password expiration in 10 days

Disable password expiration

Set account expiration date

Force user to change password on next log in

' chage 'u chage [ options ] LOGIN

The 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 their password .

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 or number of days since January 1, 1970 on which the user (Aqs 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 .

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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 .

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Passing the number -1 as the INACTIVE will remove an account (Aqs inactivity .

-l , --list Show account aging information .

-m , --mindays MIN_DAYS Set the minimum number of days between password changes to MIN_DAYS . A value of zero for this field indicates that the user may change their password at any time .

-M , --maxdays MAX_DAYS Set the 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 their password before being able to use their account . This occurrence can be planned for in advance by use of the -W option, which provides the user with advance warning .

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Passing the number -1 as MAX_DAYS will remove checking a password (Aqs validity .

-R , --root CHROOT_DIR Apply changes in the CHROOT_DIR directory and use the configuration files from the CHROOT_DIR directory .

-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 their 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 .

The chage program requires a shadow password file to be available .

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 their password or account is due to expire .

The following configuration variables in /etc/login .defs change the behavior of this tool:

/etc/passwd User account information .

/etc/shadow Secure user account information .

The chage command exits with the following values:

0 success

1 permission denied

2 invalid command syntax

15 can (Aqt find the shadow password file

passwd(5), shadow(5).