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🖥️ CHAGE(1)

👤 Name

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 their password.

🚀 Quick Reference

Use Case	Command	Description
🔍 View account aging information	chage -l user	Shows when password expires, last changed, and account inactivity
⏳ Set account expiration date	chage -E YYYY-MM-DD user	Sets the absolute date when the account will be locked
⬆️ Set maximum password validity	chage -M days user	Sets the maximum number of days a password is valid
⬇️ Set minimum password age	chage -m days user	Sets the minimum number of days between password changes
🚫 Set password inactivity lock	chage -I days user	Sets the days of inactivity after password expiry before the account is locked
⚠️ Set password warning period	chage -W days user	Sets the number of days of warning before a password change is required
💬 Interactive mode	chage user	Prompts for all aging fields interactively, displaying current values in [ ]

📝 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 their password.

⚙️ Options

📅 -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, --iso8601

When printing dates, use YYYY-MM-DD format.

🚫 -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 their 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 their password before being able to use their 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 their 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 their 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

Code	Meaning
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 4.8.1 02/06/2024 CHAGE(1)

🖥️ CHAGE(1) 👤 Name 🚀 Quick Reference 📝 Synopsis 📖 Description ⚙️ Options 📌 Note ⚙️ Configuration 📁 Files 🚪 Exit Values 🔗 See Also