System Administration Guide: Basic Administration

Fields in the shadow File

The fields in the shadow file are separated by colons and contain the following information:


username:password:lastchg:min:max:warn:inactive:expire

For example:


rimmer:86Kg/MNT/dGu.:8882:0::5:20:8978

The following table describes the shadow file fields.

Table 4–13 Fields in the shadow File

Field Name 

Description 

username

Contains the user or login name. 

password

Might contain the following entries: a 13-character encrypted user password; the string *LK*, which indicates an inaccessible account; or the string NP, which indicates no password for the account.

lastchg

Indicates the number of days between January 1, 1970, and the last password modification date. 

min

Contains the minimum number of days required between password changes. 

max

Contains the maximum number of days the password is valid before the user is prompted to specify a new password. 

inactive

Contains the number of days a user account can be inactive before being locked. 

expire

Contains the absolute date when the user account expires. Past this date, the user cannot log in to the system.