chpasswd - update passwords in batch mode
| chpasswd [options] | |
chpasswd 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:
user_name:password
By default the supplied password must be in clear-text. Default encryption algorithm is DES. Also the password age will be updated, if present.
This command is intended to be used in a large system environment where many accounts are created at a single time.
The options which apply to the chpasswd command are:
| -e, --encrypted | |
| Supplied passwords are in encrypted form. | |
| -h, --help | |
| Display help message and exit. | |
| -m, --md5 | |
| Use MD5 encryption instead DES when the supplied passwords are not encrypted. | |
Remember to set permissions or umask to prevent readability of unencrypted files by other users.