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5 .\" Manual: System Management Commands
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8 .TH "CHPASSWD" "8" "06/06/2006" "System Management Commands" "System Management Commands"
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14 chpasswd \- update passwords in batch mode
17 \fBchpasswd\fR [\fIoptions\fR]
22 reads a list of user name and password pairs from standard input and uses this information to update a group of existing users. Each line is of the format:
25 \fIuser_name\fR:\fIpassword\fR
27 By default the supplied password must be in clear\-text. Default encryption algorithm is DES. Also the password age will be updated, if present.
29 This command is intended to be used in a large system environment where many accounts are created at a single time.
32 The options which apply to the
36 \fB\-e\fR, \fB\-\-encrypted\fR
37 Supplied passwords are in encrypted form.
39 \fB\-h\fR, \fB\-\-help\fR
40 Display help message and exit.
42 \fB\-m\fR, \fB\-\-md5\fR
43 Use MD5 encryption instead DES when the supplied passwords are not encrypted.
46 Remember to set permissions or umask to prevent readability of unencrypted files by other users.