Re: ! password in /etc/shadow
On Wed, 2005-03-30 at 15:55 -0600, James Scott wrote:
> I am attempting to configure a package that is instructing me to
> assign a password to the user account of a different package. I am
> new to Linux, so I am a little afraid as to what affect this might
> have on my system.
>
> When I look at the /etc/shadow file, the password field is currently
> an exclamation point (:!:). I understand that an asterisk (:*:) would
> mean that the account is disabled, but what does the exclamation mean?
$ man shadow
<excerpt>
The password field must be filled. The encryped password consists of
13 to 24 characters from the 64 character alphabet a thru z, A thru Z,
0 thru 9, . and /. Refer to crypt(3) for details on how this string is
interpreted. If the password field contains some string that is not
valid result of crypt(3), for instance ! or *, the user will not be able
to use a unix password to log in, subject to pam(7).
> Also, if I assign a password to this account, and it breaks the other
> package, how can I change it back to whatever the :!: is?
>
vi :)
-matt zagrabelny
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