/etc/shadow File Fields ??

MikeL_4 — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 21:13:37 GMT

We are running Red Hat Linux 5.5 and I've noticed some differences in the /etc/shadow file on some of our servers...

On some of the entries, fields 5, 6, and 7 are coded as I would expect, as this is what is in /etc/login.defs...
user1:KMcidSND/gLdw:14873:0:90:7:7::

But on some users, there is nothing coded in these fields, as in following...
user2:KMcidSND/gLdw:14684::::::

If these fields are not defined, what do they default to ??

Any ideas as to what might cause them to not get populated properly ??

Re: /etc/shadow File Fields ??

Jared Middleton — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 22:06:27 GMT

I would guess that user2 was added via a different method than user1... something which didn't automatically add the password aging info. When the aging fields are blank, I believe the password simply won't expire.

See "man chage" for how to populate the missing values.

Also: http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/understanding-etcshadow-file/

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/etc/shadow File Fields ??

Re: /etc/shadow File Fields ??