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
(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'tmisspelled 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 (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 (5)
file to contain the user's real name (as opposed to the login name)
plus some additional 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.