yppasswd(1)                                                                                                          yppasswd(1)



NAME
       yppasswd, ypchfn, ypchsh - change your password in the NIS database

SYNOPSIS
       yppasswd [-f] [-l] [-p] [user]
       ypchfn [user]
       ypchsh [user]

DESCRIPTION
       In  the old days, the standard passwd(1), chfn(1) and chsh(1) tools could not be used under Linux to change the users NIS
       password, shell and GECOS information. For changing the NIS information, they were replaced by  their  NIS  counterparts,
       yppasswd, ypchfn and ypchsh.

       Today, this versions are deprecated and should not be used any longer.

       Using  the  command  line switches, you can choose whether to update your password -p, your login shell -l, or your GECOS
       field -f, or a combination of them.  yppasswd implies the -p option, if no other option is given. If you use the -f or -l
       option, you also need to add the -p flag.  ypchfn implies the -f option, and ypchsh -l.

       When  invoked without the user argument, the account information for the invoking user will be updated, otherwise that of
       user will be updated. This option is only available to the super-user. If the yppasswdd daemon on the server supports it,
       you can give the root password of the server instead of the users [old] password.

       All tools will first prompt the user for the current NIS password needed for authentication with the yppasswdd(8) daemon.
       Subsequently, the program prompts for the updated information:

       yppasswd or -p
              Change the user's NIS password.    The user is prompted for the new password.  While typing the password,  echoing
              is  turned  off,  so  the  password does not appear on the screen. An empty password is rejected, as are passwords
              shorter than six characters. The user will then be requested to retype the password to make sure it wasn't    mis-
              spelled the first time.

       ypchsh or -l
              Change the user's login shell. The user is prompted for a new shell, offering the old one as default:

                Login shell [/bin/sh]: _

              To  accept  the  default,  simply press return. To clear the shell field in your passwd(5) file entry (so that the
              system's default shell is selected), enter the string none.

       ypchfn or -f
              Change the user's full name and related information. Traditionally,  some  applications  expect  the  GECOS  field
              (field  4)  of  the  passwd(5) file to contain the user's real name (as opposed to the login name) plus some addi-
              tional information like the office phone number. This information is displayed  by  finger(1)  and  probably  some
              other tools, too.

              When setting the full name, ypchfn displays the following prompts, with the defaults in brackets:

                Name [Joe Doe]:
                Location [2nd floor, bldg 34]:
                Office Phone [12345]:
                Home Phone []:

              To accept a default, simply press return. To clear a field, enter the string none.

SEE ALSO
       chfn(1), chsh(1), finger(1), passwd(5), passwd(1), ypcat(1), yppasswdd(8), ypserv(8), ypwhich(1)

AUTHOR
       yppasswd is part of the yp-tools package, which was written by Thorsten Kukuk <kukukATsuse.de>.



YP Tools 2.9                                                June 2004                                                yppasswd(1)