CHAGE(1)                         User Commands                        CHAGE(1)



NAME
       chage - change user password expiry information

SYNOPSIS
       chage [options] LOGIN

DESCRIPTION
       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 his/her password.

OPTIONS
       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's 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.

           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.

           Passing the number -1 as the INACTIVE will remove an account's
           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 his/her 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 his/her password before being able to
           use his/her account. This occurrence can be planned for in advance
           by use of the -W option, which provides the user with advance
           warning.

           Passing the number -1 as MAX_DAYS will remove checking a password's
           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 his/her 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.

NOTE
       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
       his/her password or account is due to expire.

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

FILES
       /etc/passwd
           User account information.

       /etc/shadow
           Secure user account information.

EXIT VALUES
       The chage command exits with the following values:

       0
           success

       1
           permission denied

       2
           invalid command syntax

       15
           can't find the shadow password file

SEE ALSO
       passwd(5), shadow(5).



shadow-utils 4.2                  11/18/2015                          CHAGE(1)
