How to use passwd command to manage user passwords
The Linux passwd command is a tool used to change and manage a Linux user's password. When executing the Linux passwd command, you will be prompted for entering the password twice.
| Option | Description |
| -r | Specifies the repository to which an operation is applied. |
| -a | Show password attributes for all entries. |
| -d | Deletes password for name. |
| -l | Locks password entry for name. |
| -e | Change the login shell. |
| -f | Force the user to change password at the next login by expiring the password for name. |
| -g | Change the gecos (finger) information. |
| -h | Change the home directory. |
| -n min | Set minimum field for name. The min field contains the minimum number of days between password changes for name. If min is greater than max, the user may not change the password. Always use this option with the -x option, unless max is set to -1 (aging turned off). In that case, min need not be set. |
| -s | Displays information including your username and if you do/don't have a password |
| -w warn | Set warn field for name. The warn field contains the number of days before the password expires and the user is warned. This option is not valid if password aging is disabled. |
| -x max | Set maximum field for name. The max field contains the number of days that the password is valid for name. The aging for name will be turned off immediately if max is set to -1. If it is set to 0, then the user is forced to change the password at the next login session and aging is turned off. |
| name | Login ID of user |
A common Example of using passwd commad is shown below.
[root@localhost ~]# passwd tintin
Changing password for user tintin.
New UNIX password:
Retype new UNIX password:
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.