11.3. Changing user properties
There are a few commands for changing various
properties of an account (i.e., the relevant field
in /etc/passwd):
- chfn
Change the full name field.
- chsh
Change the login shell.
- passwd
Change the password.
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
chmod) for normal users,
for example in an environment with many novice users.
Other tasks need to be done by hand. For example, to
change the username, you need to edit
/etc/passwd
directly (with vipw, remember). Likewise, to add
or remove the user to more groups, you need to edit
/etc/group (with vigr). 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.
