YPPASSWD(1)                                                        YPPASSWD(1)


NAME
     yppasswd - change NIS login password

SYNOPSIS
     yppasswd [name]

DESCRIPTION
     yppasswd changes (or installs) a password associated with the user name
     (your own name by default) in the network information service (NIS)
     passwd databases.  The NIS password may be different from the one for the
     same user in the local /etc/passwd file.

     yppasswd prompts for the old NIS password and then for the new one.  The
     caller must supply both.  The new password must be typed twice, to
     forestall mistakes.

     New passwords must be at least four characters long if they use a
     sufficiently rich alphabet and at least six characters long if monocase.
     These rules are relaxed if you are insistent enough.

     EXTENDED SYNTAX CHECKS:

     In IRIX version 6.5.19, an option was added to allow extended password
     syntax checks. The default behavior of yppasswd is identical to earlier
     IRIX releases.

     This option is enabled by creating /etc/default/yppasswd.  To enable
     extended password syntax checks, in that file add the line:

     EXTENDED_CHECKS=YES

     With extended checks enabled, a check is made to insure that the new
     password meets the more stringent construction requirements. When the new
     password is entered a second time, the two copies of the new password are
     compared.  If the two copies are not identical the cycle of prompting for
     the new password is repeated for at most two more times.

     With extended checks enabled, passwords must be constructed to meet the
     following requirements:

          Each password must have at least six characters.  Only the first
          eight characters are significant.

          Each password must contain at least two alphabetic characters and at
          least one numeric or special character.  In this case,
          ``alphabetic'' means upper and lower case letters.

          Each password must differ from the user's login name and any reverse
          or circular shift of that login name.  For comparison purposes, an
          upper case letter and its corresponding lower case letter are
          equivalent.


          New passwords must differ from the old by at least three characters.
          For comparison purposes, an upper case letter and its corresponding
          lower case letter are equivalent.

     NOTE: With extended checks enabled, other than the more stringent
     password syntax requirements, there is a slight difference in interface
     than with the original method: If the old password is typed incorrectly,
     an error is printed and the program exits before proceeding. This is
     different from the original behavior in that any error in typing the old
     password is not detected until after the old password and new password
     have been sent to the server.

     Only the owner of the name or the super-user may change a password; in
     either case you must prove you know the old password.

     Use ypchpass(1) to change other passwd(4) fields.

SEE ALSO
     passwd(1), ypchpass(1), ypfiles(4), rpc.passwd(1M)

BUGS
     The update protocol passes all the information to the server in one RPC
     call, without ever looking at it.  Thus if you type in your old password
     incorrectly, you will not be notified until after you have entered your
     new password. This bug only applies if not using extended checks.


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