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Changing Unix Passwords |
Your password is what authenticates you to the computer when you log on. It is all that prevents other people from masquerading as you as far as the computer is concerned. It is your responsibility to safeguard your password, as the campus acceptable use guidelines state that you are responsible for all transactions authorized by your login. It is recommended that you change your password periodically, and certainly when requested to do so by systems staff, and that you select secure passwords.
The exact procedure for changing your password varies a bit on the different department clusters. The first step is to log onto the correct machine (for Glue/PNCE-Unix/NSCP-II and NSCP-I machines, the correct machine is your normal log on machine; for quark/electron cluster you should log onto quark and change the password, then log onto electron and repeat the process). On the
passwd
passwd
passwd. After you are done
changing your password here, be sure to change it
on quark as well. It will take up to a day for the
password to propagate to all the members of the cluster;
you may have to use old password on some machines until
then (or you can change password on individual clients,
however if you don't change password on electron and
quark they will overwrite the changes on the clients).
passwd command will then
ask for your old password (to make sure it is really you changing the
password), and twice for the new password (to ensure you typed it
correctly). The passwords you type will not be echoed back to the screen.
If there is a problem or you changed your mind, you can control-C out
of the passwd command while it is waiting for you to enter a password
to cancel. If the two new passwords you entered didn't match, the password
won't change; the program may ask you to type the new passwords again, or
you can start over.
/bin/tcsh when available, otherwise /bin/csh, although
other shells are available. You can see you current login shell by
typing finger _your_username
To change your shell on the:
chsh. The machine will ask for your
password, and then for the name of a shell.
yppasswd -y. The machine will then
ask for your password, and then present you with
a list of available shells and what your current
shell is, and ask you if you want to change your
shell. If you type y, the machine
will then ask you to enter one of the shells from
the list it gave you.
chsh.
The machine will then ask you for the name of your
new shell. /bin/tcsh is recommended.
You should also change your shell on quark. It will
take up to a day for information to propogate to all
the clients from electron and quark; you may wish
to change it on the clients you will be using before
then for it to take effect immediately.
The next time you log in, you should be running the new shell.
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