# chage

## NAME



           chage - change user password expiry information
    


## SYNOPSIS



    
           **chage**[_options_] _LOGIN_
    


## DESCRIPTION



           The **chage** command changes password expiration information for a
           user. It sets 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 the user must change their password.
    


## OPTIONS



           The options which apply to the **chage** command are:
    
           **-d** , **--lastday** _LAST_DAY_
               Set the date when the password was last changed. The value can
               be specified as a date in the YYYY-MM-DD format or as a number
               of days since 1970-01-01. The date is interpreted using the
               UTC timezone. If the _LAST_DAY_ is set to _0_ , the user is forced
               to change their password upon the next login.
    
               Passing the value _-1_ or an empty string as the _LAST_DAY_ clears
               the value and removes the password change requirement.
    
           **-E** , **--expiredate** _EXPIRE_DATE_
               Set the date on which the user's password expires and their
               account will no longer be accessible. The value can be
               specified as a date in the YYYY-MM-DD format or as a number of
               days since 1970-01-01. The date is interpreted using the UTC
               timezone. If the password expires, the user must contact the
               system administrator to regain access to the system.
    
               For example, the following command sets an account to expire
               in 180 days:
    
                            chage -E $(date -d +180days +%F)
    
               Passing the value _-1_ or an empty string as the _EXPIRE_DATE_
               removes the 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. Only
               absolute paths are supported.
    
           **-P** , **--prefix** _PREFIX_DIR_
               Apply changes to configuration files under the root filesystem
               found under the directory _PREFIX_DIR_. This option does not
               chroot and is intended for preparing a cross-compilation
               target. Some limitations: NIS and LDAP users/groups are not
               verified. No SELINUX support.
    
           **-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 program will report only the information from the shadow
           password file. This implies that configuration from other sources
           (e.g. LDAP or empty password hash field from the passwd file) that
           affect the user's login will not be shown in the chage output.
    
           The **chage** program will also not report any inconsistency between
           the shadow and passwd files (e.g. missing x in the passwd file).
           The **pwck** can be used to check for this kind of inconsistencies.
    
           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



           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
    


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