The chsh command allows a user to update his or her personal information, including the Full Name and preferred shell. The Superuser (available with the Freedom 400x and above) can update the information for any user.
Example 1: using chsh to change your own account information
To update your information, including your Full Name and shell, use the chsh command as shown below:
> chsh
The chsh command opens your preferred editor and allows you to change your information:
#Changing user database information for test.
Shell: /bin/tcsh
Full Name: test
Office Location:
Office Phone:
Home Phone:
Other information:
Each of the above fields can be filled in or altered. Please note, however, that the Shell must be a shell that is currently installed on the Freedom account.
Example 2: using chsh to change the account information for another user
NOTE: Unless you have root access (available only with the Freedom 400x and above), chsh can only be used to change your own information and not that of another user.
You can only change someone else’s information with chsh if you are logged in as the Superuser.
To update a user's information, including Full Name and Shell, use the chsh command as shown below:
> chsh username
The chsh command opens your preferred editor and allows you to change the user's information:
#Changing user database information for monkey.
Login: monkey
Password: $1$84wa/$DT0813r/mWgCLy65dhbtZY0
Uid [#]: 1001
Gid [# or name]: 1001
Change [month day year]:
Expire [month day year]:
Class:
Home directory: /usr/home/monkey
Shell: /bin/tcsh
Full Name: Monkey Boy
Office Location:
Office Phone:
Home Phone:
Other information:
Note that the Superuser is able to set Change and Expire settings for the user's password. The Change setting notifies the user that the password is about to expire. The user will then have until the date set in the Expire setting to change the user account password.
The Change and Expire dates can be entered in either of the following formats:
4 1 2001
April 1, 2001
Remember to use the full four-digit value for the year.
NOTE: The Login, Uid and Gid are created at the time the account is set up and are an integral part of the user privileging system. The password that appears here is encrypted and should only be updated via the vpasswd command. Attempts to alter any of these four settings via chsh may cause irreparable damage to the user account.