chage coMMand

You can use the chage command to manage the expiration date of a password. Password aging information is stored in the /etc/shadow file. In order, the columns in /etc/shadow are shown in Table. The associated chage switch, where available, is shown with each description entry. For example, if you wanted to require that user test1 keep a password for at least two days, use the chage test1 -m 2 command.

Table: The Anatomy of /etc/shadow

Column	Field	Description
1	Username	Username
2	Password	Encrypted password; requires an x in the second column of /etc/passwd
3	Password history	Date of the last password change, in number of days after January 1, 1970
4	mindays	Minimum number of days that you must keep a password (-m)
5	maxdays	Maximum number of days after which a password must be changed (-M)
6	warndays	Number of days before password expiration when a warning is given (-W)
7	inactive	Number of days after password expiration when an account is made inactive (-I)
8	disabled	Number of days after password expiration when an account is disabled (-E)

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