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CHAGE(1) chage CHAGE(1)

NAME

chage - change user password expiry information

SYNOPSIS

chage [option...] [user]

DESCRIPTION

chage is used to list and change the password expiry information of a user. It allows the system administrator to change the number of days between allowed and required password changes and the date of the last password change. It allows also to define when an account will expire. The chage command is restricted to the system administrator, except for the -l option, which may be used by an user to determine when his password or account is due to expire.

If no option is given, chage operates in an interactive mode, prompting the user with the current values for all of the fields. Enter the new value to change the field, or leave the line blank to use the current value. If the users exists in the local passwd(5) file, but not in the local shadow(5) file, chage will create a new entry in the shadow file.

This implementation does not require the setuid bit set, instead it will communicate via the varlink protocol with pwaccessd(8) and pwupd(8) to read and modify the account data.

OPTIONS

-l, --list

This option will list the password expiry information in a human readable format. The user will see the date when he changed the password the last time, when the password will be expire, when the password will be locked and when the account will expire.

-M, --maxdays #days

With this option the maximum number of days during which a password is valid is changed. When maxdays plus lastday is less than the current day, the user will be required to change his password before being able to use the account.

-d, --lastday date

With this option the date when the password was last changed can be set to another value. lastday has to be specified as number of days since January 1st, 1970. The date may also be expressed in the format YYYY-MM-DD. If supported by the system, a value of zero forces the user to change the password at next login.

-E, --expiredate expiredate

With this option the date when the account will be expired can be changed. The expire date has to be specified as number of days since January 1st, 1970. The date may also be expressed in the format YYYY-MM-DD.

-I, --inactive #days

This option is used to set the number of days of inactivity after a password has expired before the account is locked. A user whose account is locked must contact the system administrator before being able to use the account again. A value of -1 disables this feature.

-W, --warndays #days

With this option the number of days of warning before a password change is required can be changed. This option is the number of days prior to the password expiring that a user will be warned the password is about to expire.

NOTES

The Minimum Password Age field in the shadow(5) file is no longer supported for security reasons. This field sets a minimum validity period for a password before it can be changed, which creates a security risk in the event of a password leak. The field can only be modified if it is set; in that case, it should be cleared.

FILES

/etc/passwd

user account information

/etc/shadow

shadow user account information

SEE ALSO

pwaccessd(8), pwupd(8), passwd(1), passwd(5), shadow(5)

07/17/2026 account-utils 1.4.0