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<H1><A NAME="SECTION001030000000000000000">Changing user properties</A></H1>
<P>
There are a few commands for changing various
properties of an account (i.e., the relevant field
in <tt>/etc/passwd</tt><A NAME="2875"> </A>):
<BLOCKQUOTE> <DL ><DT><STRONG><tt>chfn</tt><A NAME="2877"> </A></STRONG>
<DD> Change the full name field.
<DT><STRONG><tt>chsh</tt><A NAME="2879"> </A></STRONG>
<DD> Change the login shell.
<DT><STRONG><tt>passwd</tt><A NAME="2881"> </A></STRONG>
<DD> Change the password.
<P>
</DL></BLOCKQUOTE>
The super-user may use these commands to change the
properties of any account. Normal users can only change
the properties of their own account. It may
sometimes be necessary to disable these commands (with
<tt>chmod</tt><A NAME="2883"> </A>) for normal users, for example in an environment
with many novice users.
<P>
Other tasks need to be done by hand. For example, to
change the username, you need to edit <tt>/etc/passwd</tt><A NAME="2885"> </A>
directly (with <tt>vipw</tt><A NAME="2887"> </A>, remember). Likewise, to add
or remove the user to more groups, you need to edit
<tt>/etc/group</tt><A NAME="2889"> </A> (with <tt>vigr</tt><A NAME="2891"> </A>). Such tasks tend to
be rare, however, and should be done with caution: for
example, if
you change the username, e-mail will no longer reach the
user, unless you also create a mail alias.<A NAME="tex2html44" HREF="footnode.html#2790"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="gif" SRC="./foot_motif.gif"></A>
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<P><ADDRESS>
<I>Lars Wirzenius <BR>
Sat Nov 15 02:32:11 EET 1997</I>
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