Linux, editing account properties
You can change the password and also the login shell of your Linux account yourself by running the commands below from a shell window session on one of:
- your Linux desktop PC
- the remote Linux desktop systems
- the compute systems
Changing your password
You can change your own password by running passwd:
[wshelp@pclin107 ~]$ passwd
Changing password for user wshelp.
(current) UNIX password:
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.
Changing your shell
You can change your shell by running ypchsh. Please beware: you can lock yourself out if you are not careful. Read the instructions below to safely test your new shell.
[wshelp@pclin107 ~]$ ypchsh
Changing NIS account information for wshelp on svXXX.win.tue.nl.
Please enter password:
Changing login shell for wshelp on svXXX.win.tue.nl.
To accept the default, simply press return. To use the
system's default shell, type the word "none".
Login shell [/bin/tcsh]: /bin/bash
The login shell has been changed on svXXX.win.tue.nl.
Warning for shell
You could disable yourself to login. Not all shells are available on all platforms, which is not always reported. To be sure that your new shell actually works, use:
ypmatch accountname passwd
and check that the new shell appears, so that you are indeed going to test the updated, new shell. Then use slogin:
slogin localhost
and again check that the new shell appears in that slogin session:
ps | grep $$
If you are not sure, change back to the old shell before you logout.