{
    "mode": "man",
    "parameter": "expect_passmass",
    "section": "1",
    "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/expect_passmass/1/json",
    "generated": "2026-06-03T04:27:48Z",
    "synopsis": "passmass [ host1 host2 host3 ...  ]",
    "sections": {
        "NAME": {
            "content": "passmass - change password on multiple machines\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "SYNOPSIS": {
            "content": "passmass [ host1 host2 host3 ...  ]\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "INTRODUCTION": {
            "content": "Passmass  changes  a password on multiple machines.  If you have accounts on several machines\nthat do not share password databases, Passmass can help you keep them all in sync.  This,  in\nturn, will make it easier to change them more frequently.\n\nWhen  Passmass  runs,  it  asks you for the old and new passwords.  (If you are changing root\npasswords and have equivalencing, the old password is not used and may be omitted.)\n\nPassmass understands the \"usual\" conventions.  Additional arguments may be used  for  tuning.\nThey  affect all hosts which follow until another argument overrides it.  For example, if you\nare known as \"libes\" on host1 and host2, but \"don\" on host3, you would say:\n\npassmass host1 host2 -user don host3\n\nArguments are:\n\n-user\nUser whose password will be changed.  By default, the current user is used.\n\n\n-rlogin\nUse rlogin to access host.  (default)\n\n\n-slogin\nUse slogin to access host.\n\n\n-ssh\nUse ssh to access host.\n\n\n-telnet\nUse telnet to access host.\n\n\n-program\n\nNext argument is a program to run to  set  the  password.   Default  is  \"passwd\".\nOther common choices are \"yppasswd\" and \"set passwd\" (e.g., VMS hosts).  A program\nname such as \"password fred\" can be used to create entries for new accounts  (when\nrun as root).\n\n\n-prompt\nNext argument is a prompt suffix pattern.  This allows the script to know when the\nshell is prompting.  The default is \"# \" for root and \"% \" for non-root accounts.\n\n\n-timeout\nNext argument is the number of seconds to wait for responses.  Default is  30  but\nsome systems can be much slower logging in.\n\n\n-su\n\nNext  argument is 1 or 0.  If 1, you are additionally prompted for a root password\nwhich is used to su after logging in.  root's password is changed rather than  the\nuser's.  This is useful for hosts which do not allow root to log in.\n\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "HOW TO USE": {
            "content": "The  best  way  to  run  Passmass  is to put the command in a one-line shell script or alias.\nWhenever you get a new account on a new machine, add the appropriate arguments  to  the  com‐\nmand.  Then run it whenever you want to change your passwords on all the hosts.\n\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "CAVEATS": {
            "content": "Using  the same password on multiple hosts carries risks.  In particular, if the password can\nbe stolen, then all of your accounts are at risk.  Thus, you should not use Passmass in situ‐\nations  where  your  password is visible, such as across a network which hackers are known to\neavesdrop.\n\nOn the other hand, if you have enough accounts with different passwords, you may end up writ‐\ning  them down somewhere - and that can be a security problem.  Funny story: my college room‐\nmate had an 11\"x13\" piece of paper on which he had listed accounts and passwords  all  across\nthe Internet.  This was several years worth of careful work and he carried it with him every‐\nwhere he went.  Well one day, he forgot to remove it from his jeans, and we found a perfectly\nblank sheet of paper when we took out the wash the following day!\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "SEE ALSO": {
            "content": "\"Exploring  Expect:  A  Tcl-Based  Toolkit for Automating Interactive Programs\" by Don Libes,\nO'Reilly and Associates, January 1995.\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "AUTHOR": {
            "content": "Don Libes, National Institute of Standards and Technology\n\n\n\n7 October 1993                                PASSMASS(1)",
            "subsections": []
        }
    },
    "summary": "passmass - change password on multiple machines",
    "flags": [],
    "examples": [],
    "see_also": []
}