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NAME | DESCRIPTION | CROSS REFERENCES | BUGS | SEE ALSO | COLOPHON |
LOGIN.DEFS(5) File Formats and Conversions LOGIN.DEFS(5)
login.defs - shadow password suite configuration
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.
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
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.
login(1), passwd(1), su(1), passwd(5), shadow(5), pam(8).
This page is part of the shadow-utils (utilities for managing
accounts and shadow password files) project. Information about the
project can be found at ⟨http://pkg-shadow.alioth.debian.org/⟩. If
you have a bug report for this manual page, see
⟨http://pkg-shadow.alioth.debian.org/getinvolved.php⟩. This page was
obtained from the project's upstream Git repository
⟨git://anonscm.debian.org/git/pkg-shadow/shadow.git⟩ on 2017-07-05.
If you discover any rendering problems in this HTML version of the
page, or you believe there is a better or more up-to-date source for
the page, or you have corrections or improvements to the information
in this COLOPHON (which is not part of the original manual page),
send a mail to man-pages@man7.org
shadow-utils 4.4 07/05/2017 LOGIN.DEFS(5)
Pages that refer to this page: chfn(1), chfn(1@@shadow-utils), chsh(1), chsh(1@@shadow-utils), login(1@@shadow-utils), newgidmap(1), newuidmap(1), runuser(1), su(1), su(1@@shadow-utils), securetty(5), subgid(5), subuid(5), chgpasswd(8), chpasswd(8), groupadd(8), groupmod(8), newusers(8), pam_unix(8), pwconv(8), useradd(8), userdel(8), usermod(8)