Administration Reference

kpasswd

Purpose

Changes the issuer's password in the Authentication Database

Synopsis

kpasswd [-x]  [-principal <user name>]  [-password <user's password>]
        [-newpassword <user's new password>]  [-cell <cell name>]
        [-servers <explicit list of servers>⁺]  [-pipe]  [-help]
   
kpasswd [-x]  [-pr <user name>]  [-pa <user's password>]  
        [-n <user's new password>]  [-c <cell name>]  
        [-s <explicit list of servers>⁺]  [-pi]  [-h]

Description

The kpasswd command changes the password recorded in an Authentication Database entry. By default, the command interpreter changes the password for the AFS user name that matches the issuer's local identity (UNIX UID). To specify an alternate user, include the -principal argument. The user named by the -principal argument does not have to appear in the local password file (the /etc/passwd file or equivalent).

By default, the command interpreter sends the password change request to the Authentication Server running on one of the database server machines listed for the local cell in the /usr/afs/etc/CellServDB file on the local disk; it chooses the machine at random. It consults the /usr/vice/etc/ThisCell file on the local disk to learn the local cell name. To specify an alternate cell, include the -cell argument.

Unlike the UNIX passwd command, the kpasswd command does not restrict passwords to eight characters or less; it accepts passwords of virtually any length. All AFS commands that require passwords (including the klog, kpasswd, and AFS-modified login utilities, and the commands in the kas suite) accept passwords longer than eight characters, but some other applications and operating system utilities do not. Selecting an AFS password of eight characters or less enables the user to maintain matching AFS and UNIX passwords.

The command interpreter makes the following checks:

If the program kpwvalid exists in the same directory as the kpasswd command, the command interpreter pass the new password to it for verification. For details, see the kpwvalid reference page.
If the -reuse argument to the kas setfields command has been used to prohibit reuse of previous passwords, the command interpreter verifies that the password is not too similar too any of the user's previous 20 passwords. It generates the following error message at the shell:
```
   Password was not changed because it seems like a reused password
   
```
To prevent a user from subverting this restriction by changing the password twenty times in quick succession (manually or by running a script), use the -minhours argument on the kaserver initialization command. The following error message appears if a user attempts to change a password before the minimum time has passed:
```
   Password was not changed because you changed it too 
   recently; see your systems administrator
```

Options

-x

Appears only for backwards compatibility.

-principal

Names the Authentication Database entry for which to change the password. If this argument is omitted, the database entry with the same name as the issuer's local identity (UNIX UID) is changed.

-password

Specifies the current password. Omit this argument to have the command interpreter prompt for the password, which does not echo visibly:

   Old password: current_password

-newpassword

Specifies the new password, which the kpasswd command interpreter converts into an encryption key (string of octal numbers) before sending it to the Authentication Server for storage in the user's Authentication Database entry.

Omit this argument to have the command interpreter prompt for the password, which does not echo visibly:

   New password (RETURN to abort): new_password 
   Retype new password: new_password

-cell

Specifies the cell in which to change the password, by directing the command to that cell's Authentication Servers. The issuer can abbreviate the cell name to the shortest form that distinguishes it from the other cells listed in the local /usr/vice/etc/CellServDB file.

By default, the command is executed in the local cell, as defined

First, by the value of the environment variable AFSCELL
Second, in the /usr/vice/etc/ThisCell file on the client machine on which the command is issued

-servers

Establishes a connection with the Authentication Server running on each specified machine, rather than with all of the database server machines listed for the relevant cell in the local copy of the /usr/vice/etc/CellServDB file. The kpasswd command interpreter then sends the password-changing request to one machine chosen at random from the set.

-pipe

Suppresses all output to the standard output stream or standard error stream. The kpasswd command interpreter expects to receive all necessary arguments, each on a separate line, from the standard input stream. Do not use this argument, which is provided for use by application programs rather than human users.

-help

Prints the online help for this command. All other valid options are ignored.

Examples

The following example shows user pat changing her password in the ABC Corporation cell.

   % kpasswd
   Changing password for 'pat' in cell 'abc.com'.
   Old password:
   New password (RETURN to abort):
   Verifying, please re-enter new_password:

Privilege Required

None

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