CHPASSWD(8)

NAME
chpasswd - update password file in batch

SYNOPSIS
chpasswd [--encrypted] [--md5]

DESCRIPTION
chpasswd reads a file of user name and password pairs from standard input and uses this information to update a group of existing users. Without the --encrypted switch, the passwords are expected to be cleartext. With the --encrypted switch, the passwords are expected to be in encrypted form. Each line is of the format

      user_name:password

The named user must exist. The supplied password will be encrypted as necessary, and the password age updated, if present.

This command is intended to be used in a large system environment where many accounts are created at a single time.

The --md5 switch allows using MD5 encryption instead of the default DES encryption when the supplied passwords are not already in encrypted form.

CAVEATS
The input file must be protected if it contains unencrypted passwords.

SEE ALSO
passwd(1), newusers(8), useradd(8)

AUTHOR
Julianne Frances Haugh (jockgrrl@ix.netcom.com)