login.defs(5)


NAME

   login.defs - shadow password suite configuration

DESCRIPTION

   The /etc/login.defs file defines the site-specific configuration for
   the shadow password suite. This file is required. Absence of this file
   will not prevent system operation, but will probably result in
   undesirable operation.

   This file is a readable text file, each line of the file describing one
   configuration parameter. The lines consist of a configuration name and
   value, separated by whitespace. Blank lines and comment lines are
   ignored. Comments are introduced with a "#" pound sign and the pound
   sign must be the first non-white character of the line.

   Parameter values may be of four types: strings, booleans, numbers, and
   long numbers. A string is comprised of any printable characters. A
   boolean should be either the value yes or no. An undefined boolean
   parameter or one with a value other than these will be given a no
   value. Numbers (both regular and long) may be either decimal values,
   octal values (precede the value with 0) or hexadecimal values (precede
   the value with 0x). The maximum value of the regular and long numeric
   parameters is machine-dependent.

   The following configuration items are provided:

   CHFN_RESTRICT (string)
       This parameter specifies which values in the gecos field of the
       /etc/passwd file may be changed by regular users using the chfn
       program. It can be any combination of letters f, r, w, h, for Full
       name, Room number, Work phone, and Home phone, respectively. For
       backward compatibility, yes is equivalent to rwh and no is
       equivalent to frwh. If not specified, only the superuser can make
       any changes. The most restrictive setting is better achieved by not
       installing chfn SUID.

   CONSOLE_GROUPS (string)
       List of groups to add to the user's supplementary groups set when
       logging in on the console (as determined by the CONSOLE setting).
       Default is none.

       Use with caution - it is possible for users to gain permanent
       access to these groups, even when not logged in on the console.

   CREATE_HOME (boolean)
       Indicate if a home directory should be created by default for new
       users.

       This setting does not apply to system users, and can be overridden
       on the command line.

   DEFAULT_HOME (boolean)
       Indicate if login is allowed if we can't cd to the home directory.
       Default is no.

       If set to yes, the user will login in the root (/) directory if it
       is not possible to cd to her home directory.

   ENCRYPT_METHOD (string)
       This defines the system default encryption algorithm for encrypting
       passwords (if no algorithm are specified on the command line).

       It can take one of these values: DES (default), MD5, SHA256,
       SHA512.

       Note: this parameter overrides the MD5_CRYPT_ENAB variable.

       Note: This only affect the generation of group passwords. The
       generation of user passwords is done by PAM and subject to the PAM
       configuration. It is recommended to set this variable consistently
       with the PAM configuration.

   ENV_HZ (string)
       If set, it will be used to define the HZ environment variable when
       a user login. The value must be preceded by HZ=. A common value on
       Linux is HZ=100.

       The HZ environment variable is only set when the user (the
       superuser) logs in with sulogin.

   ENV_PATH (string)
       If set, it will be used to define the PATH environment variable
       when a regular user login. The value is a colon separated list of
       paths (for example /bin:/usr/bin) and can be preceded by PATH=. The
       default value is PATH=/bin:/usr/bin.

   ENV_SUPATH (string)
       If set, it will be used to define the PATH environment variable
       when the superuser login. The value is a colon separated list of
       paths (for example /sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin) and can be
       preceded by PATH=. The default value is
       PATH=/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin.

   ERASECHAR (number)
       Terminal ERASE character (010 = backspace, 0177 = DEL).

       The value can be prefixed "0" for an octal value, or "0x" for an
       hexadecimal value.

   FAIL_DELAY (number)
       Delay in seconds before being allowed another attempt after a login
       failure.

   FAKE_SHELL (string)
       If set, login will execute this shell instead of the users' shell
       specified in /etc/passwd.

   GID_MAX (number), GID_MIN (number)
       Range of group IDs used for the creation of regular groups by
       useradd, groupadd, or newusers.

       The default value for GID_MIN (resp.  GID_MAX) is 1000 (resp.
       60000).

   HUSHLOGIN_FILE (string)
       If defined, this file can inhibit all the usual chatter during the
       login sequence. If a full pathname is specified, then hushed mode
       will be enabled if the user's name or shell are found in the file.
       If not a full pathname, then hushed mode will be enabled if the
       file exists in the user's home directory.

   KILLCHAR (number)
       Terminal KILL character (025 = CTRL/U).

       The value can be prefixed "0" for an octal value, or "0x" for an
       hexadecimal value.

   LOG_OK_LOGINS (boolean)
       Enable logging of successful logins.

   LOG_UNKFAIL_ENAB (boolean)
       Enable display of unknown usernames when login failures are
       recorded.

       Note: logging unknown usernames may be a security issue if an user
       enter her password instead of her login name.

   LOGIN_RETRIES (number)
       Maximum number of login retries in case of bad password.

       This will most likely be overridden by PAM, since the default
       pam_unix module has its own built in of 3 retries. However, this is
       a safe fallback in case you are using an authentication module that
       does not enforce PAM_MAXTRIES.

   LOGIN_TIMEOUT (number)
       Max time in seconds for login.

   MAIL_DIR (string)
       The mail spool directory. This is needed to manipulate the mailbox
       when its corresponding user account is modified or deleted. If not
       specified, a compile-time default is used.

   MAIL_FILE (string)
       Defines the location of the users mail spool files relatively to
       their home directory.

   The MAIL_DIR and MAIL_FILE variables are used by useradd, usermod, and
   userdel to create, move, or delete the user's mail spool.

   MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP (number)
       Maximum members per group entry. When the maximum is reached, a new
       group entry (line) is started in /etc/group (with the same name,
       same password, and same GID).

       The default value is 0, meaning that there are no limits in the
       number of members in a group.

       This feature (split group) permits to limit the length of lines in
       the group file. This is useful to make sure that lines for NIS
       groups are not larger than 1024 characters.

       If you need to enforce such limit, you can use 25.

       Note: split groups may not be supported by all tools (even in the
       Shadow toolsuite). You should not use this variable unless you
       really need it.

   MD5_CRYPT_ENAB (boolean)
       Indicate if passwords must be encrypted using the MD5-based
       algorithm. If set to yes, new passwords will be encrypted using the
       MD5-based algorithm compatible with the one used by recent releases
       of FreeBSD. It supports passwords of unlimited length and longer
       salt strings. Set to no if you need to copy encrypted passwords to
       other systems which don't understand the new algorithm. Default is
       no.

       This variable is superseded by the ENCRYPT_METHOD variable or by
       any command line option used to configure the encryption algorithm.

       This variable is deprecated. You should use ENCRYPT_METHOD.

       Note: This only affect the generation of group passwords. The
       generation of user passwords is done by PAM and subject to the PAM
       configuration. It is recommended to set this variable consistently
       with the PAM configuration.

   PASS_MAX_DAYS (number)
       The maximum number of days a password may be used. If the password
       is older than this, a password change will be forced. If not
       specified, -1 will be assumed (which disables the restriction).

   PASS_MIN_DAYS (number)
       The minimum number of days allowed between password changes. Any
       password changes attempted sooner than this will be rejected. If
       not specified, -1 will be assumed (which disables the restriction).

   PASS_WARN_AGE (number)
       The number of days warning given before a password expires. A zero
       means warning is given only upon the day of expiration, a negative
       value means no warning is given. If not specified, no warning will
       be provided.

   PASS_MAX_DAYS, PASS_MIN_DAYS and PASS_WARN_AGE are only used at the
   time of account creation. Any changes to these settings won't affect
   existing accounts.

   SHA_CRYPT_MIN_ROUNDS (number), SHA_CRYPT_MAX_ROUNDS (number)
       When ENCRYPT_METHOD is set to SHA256 or SHA512, this defines the
       number of SHA rounds used by the encryption algorithm by default
       (when the number of rounds is not specified on the command line).

       With a lot of rounds, it is more difficult to brute forcing the
       password. But note also that more CPU resources will be needed to
       authenticate users.

       If not specified, the libc will choose the default number of rounds
       (5000).

       The values must be inside the 1000-999,999,999 range.

       If only one of the SHA_CRYPT_MIN_ROUNDS or SHA_CRYPT_MAX_ROUNDS
       values is set, then this value will be used.

       If SHA_CRYPT_MIN_ROUNDS > SHA_CRYPT_MAX_ROUNDS, the highest value
       will be used.

       Note: This only affect the generation of group passwords. The
       generation of user passwords is done by PAM and subject to the PAM
       configuration. It is recommended to set this variable consistently
       with the PAM configuration.

   SULOG_FILE (string)
       If defined, all su activity is logged to this file.

   SU_NAME (string)
       If defined, the command name to display when running "su -". For
       example, if this is defined as "su" then a "ps" will display the
       command is "-su". If not defined, then "ps" would display the name
       of the shell actually being run, e.g. something like "-sh".

   SUB_GID_MIN (number), SUB_GID_MAX (number), SUB_GID_COUNT (number)
       If /etc/subuid exists, the commands useradd and newusers (unless
       the user already have subordinate group IDs) allocate SUB_GID_COUNT
       unused group IDs from the range SUB_GID_MIN to SUB_GID_MAX for each
       new user.

       The default values for SUB_GID_MIN, SUB_GID_MAX, SUB_GID_COUNT are
       respectively 100000, 600100000 and 10000.

   SUB_UID_MIN (number), SUB_UID_MAX (number), SUB_UID_COUNT (number)
       If /etc/subuid exists, the commands useradd and newusers (unless
       the user already have subordinate user IDs) allocate SUB_UID_COUNT
       unused user IDs from the range SUB_UID_MIN to SUB_UID_MAX for each
       new user.

       The default values for SUB_UID_MIN, SUB_UID_MAX, SUB_UID_COUNT are
       respectively 100000, 600100000 and 10000.

   SYS_GID_MAX (number), SYS_GID_MIN (number)
       Range of group IDs used for the creation of system groups by
       useradd, groupadd, or newusers.

       The default value for SYS_GID_MIN (resp.  SYS_GID_MAX) is 101
       (resp.  GID_MIN-1).

   SYS_UID_MAX (number), SYS_UID_MIN (number)
       Range of user IDs used for the creation of system users by useradd
       or newusers.

       The default value for SYS_UID_MIN (resp.  SYS_UID_MAX) is 101
       (resp.  UID_MIN-1).

   SYSLOG_SG_ENAB (boolean)
       Enable "syslog" logging of sg activity.

   SYSLOG_SU_ENAB (boolean)
       Enable "syslog" logging of su activity - in addition to sulog file
       logging.

   TTYGROUP (string), TTYPERM (string)
       The terminal permissions: the login tty will be owned by the
       TTYGROUP group, and the permissions will be set to TTYPERM.

       By default, the ownership of the terminal is set to the user's
       primary group and the permissions are set to 0600.

       TTYGROUP can be either the name of a group or a numeric group
       identifier.

       If you have a write program which is "setgid" to a special group
       which owns the terminals, define TTYGROUP to the group number and
       TTYPERM to 0620. Otherwise leave TTYGROUP commented out and assign
       TTYPERM to either 622 or 600.

   TTYTYPE_FILE (string)
       If defined, file which maps tty line to TERM environment parameter.
       Each line of the file is in a format something like "vt100 tty01".

   UID_MAX (number), UID_MIN (number)
       Range of user IDs used for the creation of regular users by useradd
       or newusers.

       The default value for UID_MIN (resp.  UID_MAX) is 1000 (resp.
       60000).

   UMASK (number)
       The file mode creation mask is initialized to this value. If not
       specified, the mask will be initialized to 022.

       useradd and newusers use this mask to set the mode of the home
       directory they create

       It is also used by pam_umask as the default umask value.

   USERDEL_CMD (string)
       If defined, this command is run when removing a user. It should
       remove any at/cron/print jobs etc. owned by the user to be removed
       (passed as the first argument).

       The return code of the script is not taken into account.

       Here is an example script, which removes the user's cron, at and
       print jobs:

           #! /bin/sh

           # Check for the required argument.
           if [ $# != 1 ]; then
                echo "Usage: $0 username"
                exit 1
           fi

           # Remove cron jobs.
           crontab -r -u $1

           # Remove at jobs.
           # Note that it will remove any jobs owned by the same UID,
           # even if it was shared by a different username.
           AT_SPOOL_DIR=/var/spool/cron/atjobs
           find $AT_SPOOL_DIR -name "[^.]*" -type f -user $1 -delete \;

           # Remove print jobs.
           lprm $1

           # All done.
           exit 0

   USERGROUPS_ENAB (boolean)
       If set to yes, userdel will remove the user's group if it contains
       no more members, and useradd will create by default a group with
       the name of the user.

CROSS REFERENCES

   The following cross references show which programs in the shadow
   password suite use which parameters.

   chfn
       CHFN_RESTRICT

   chgpasswd
       ENCRYPT_METHOD MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP MD5_CRYPT_ENAB
       SHA_CRYPT_MAX_ROUNDS SHA_CRYPT_MIN_ROUNDS

   chpasswd
       SHA_CRYPT_MAX_ROUNDS SHA_CRYPT_MIN_ROUNDS

   gpasswd
       ENCRYPT_METHOD MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP MD5_CRYPT_ENAB
       SHA_CRYPT_MAX_ROUNDS SHA_CRYPT_MIN_ROUNDS

   groupadd
       GID_MAX GID_MIN MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP SYS_GID_MAX SYS_GID_MIN

   groupdel
       MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP

   groupmems
       MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP

   groupmod
       MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP

   grpck
       MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP

   grpconv
       MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP

   grpunconv
       MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP

   login
       CONSOLE_GROUPS DEFAULT_HOME ERASECHAR FAIL_DELAY FAKE_SHELL
       HUSHLOGIN_FILE KILLCHAR LOGIN_RETRIES LOGIN_TIMEOUT LOG_OK_LOGINS
       LOG_UNKFAIL_ENAB TTYGROUP TTYPERM TTYTYPE_FILE USERGROUPS_ENAB

   newgrp / sg
       SYSLOG_SG_ENAB

   newusers
       ENCRYPT_METHOD GID_MAX GID_MIN MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP MD5_CRYPT_ENAB
       PASS_MAX_DAYS PASS_MIN_DAYS PASS_WARN_AGE SHA_CRYPT_MAX_ROUNDS
       SHA_CRYPT_MIN_ROUNDS SUB_GID_COUNT SUB_GID_MAX SUB_GID_MIN
       SUB_UID_COUNT SUB_UID_MAX SUB_UID_MIN SYS_GID_MAX SYS_GID_MIN
       SYS_UID_MAX SYS_UID_MIN UID_MAX UID_MIN UMASK

   pwck
       PASS_MAX_DAYS PASS_MIN_DAYS PASS_WARN_AGE

   pwconv
       PASS_MAX_DAYS PASS_MIN_DAYS PASS_WARN_AGE

   su
       CONSOLE_GROUPS DEFAULT_HOME ENV_PATH ENV_SUPATH SULOG_FILE SU_NAME
       SYSLOG_SU_ENAB

   sulogin
       ENV_HZ

   useradd
       CREATE_HOME GID_MAX GID_MIN MAIL_DIR MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP
       PASS_MAX_DAYS PASS_MIN_DAYS PASS_WARN_AGE SUB_GID_COUNT SUB_GID_MAX
       SUB_GID_MIN SUB_UID_COUNT SUB_UID_MAX SUB_UID_MIN SYS_GID_MAX
       SYS_GID_MIN SYS_UID_MAX SYS_UID_MIN UID_MAX UID_MIN UMASK

   userdel
       MAIL_DIR MAIL_FILE MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP USERDEL_CMD
       USERGROUPS_ENAB

   usermod
       MAIL_DIR MAIL_FILE MAX_MEMBERS_PER_GROUP

BUGS

   Much of the functionality that used to be provided by the shadow
   password suite is now handled by PAM. Thus, /etc/login.defs is no
   longer used by passwd(1), or less used by login(1), and su(1). Please
   refer to the corresponding PAM configuration files instead.

SEE ALSO

   login(1), passwd(1), su(1), passwd(5), shadow(5), pam(8).





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