CHAGE(1)			 User Commands			      CHAGE(1)

NAME
       chage - change user password expiry information

SYNOPSIS
       chage [options] LOGIN

DESCRIPTION
       The chage command changes password expiration information for a user.
       It sets the number of days between password changes and the date of the
       last password change. This information is used by the system to
       determine when the user must change their password.

OPTIONS
       The options which apply to the chage command are:

       -d, --lastday LAST_DAY
	   Set the date when the password was last changed. The value can be
	   specified as a date in the YYYY-MM-DD format or as a number of days
	   since 1970-01-01. The date is interpreted using the UTC timezone.
	   If the LAST_DAY is set to 0, the user is forced to change their
	   password upon the next login.

	   Passing the value -1 or an empty string as the LAST_DAY clears the
	   value and removes the password change requirement.

       -E, --expiredate EXPIRE_DATE
	   Set the date on which the user's password expires and their account
	   will no longer be accessible. The value can be specified as a date
	   in the YYYY-MM-DD format or as a number of days since 1970-01-01.
	   The date is interpreted using the UTC timezone. If the password
	   expires, the user must contact the system administrator to regain
	   access to the system.

	   For example, the following command sets an account to expire in 180
	   days:

			chage -E $(date -d +180days +%F)


	   Passing the value -1 or an empty string as the EXPIRE_DATE removes
	   the account expiration date.

       -h, --help
	   Display help message and exit.

       -i, --iso8601
	   When printing dates, use YYYY-MM-DD format.

       -I, --inactive INACTIVE
	   Set the number of days of inactivity after a password has expired
	   before the account is locked. The INACTIVE option is the number of
	   days of inactivity. A user whose account is locked must contact the
	   system administrator before being able to use the system again.

	   Passing the number -1 as the INACTIVE will remove an account's
	   inactivity.

       -l, --list
	   Show account aging information.

       -m, --mindays MIN_DAYS
	   Set the minimum number of days between password changes to
	   MIN_DAYS. A value of zero for this field indicates that the user
	   may change their password at any time.

       -M, --maxdays MAX_DAYS
	   Set the maximum number of days during which a password is valid.
	   When MAX_DAYS plus LAST_DAY is less than the current day, the user
	   will be required to change their password before being able to use
	   their account. This occurrence can be planned for in advance by use
	   of the -W option, which provides the user with advance warning.

	   Passing the number -1 as MAX_DAYS will remove checking a password's
	   validity.

       -R, --root CHROOT_DIR
	   Apply changes in the CHROOT_DIR directory and use the configuration
	   files from the CHROOT_DIR directory. Only absolute paths are
	   supported.

       -P, --prefix PREFIX_DIR
	   Apply changes to configuration files under the root filesystem
	   found under the directory PREFIX_DIR. This option does not chroot
	   and is intended for preparing a cross-compilation target. Some
	   limitations: NIS and LDAP users/groups are not verified. No SELINUX
	   support.

       -W, --warndays WARN_DAYS
	   Set the number of days of warning before a password change is
	   required. The WARN_DAYS option is the number of days prior to the
	   password expiring that a user will be warned their password is
	   about to expire.

       If none of the options are selected, chage operates in an interactive
       fashion, prompting the user with the current values for all of the
       fields. Enter the new value to change the field, or leave the line
       blank to use the current value. The current value is displayed between
       a pair of [ ] marks.

NOTE
       The chage program requires a shadow password file to be available.

       The chage program will report only the information from the shadow
       password file. This implies that configuration from other sources (e.g.
       LDAP or empty password hash field from the passwd file) that affect the
       user's login will not be shown in the chage output.

       The chage program will also not report any inconsistency between the
       shadow and passwd files (e.g. missing x in the passwd file). The pwck
       can be used to check for this kind of inconsistencies.

       The chage command is restricted to the root user, except for the -l
       option, which may be used by an unprivileged user to determine when
       their password or account is due to expire.

CONFIGURATION
       The following configuration variables in /etc/login.defs change the
       behavior of this tool:

FILES
       /etc/passwd
	   User account information.

       /etc/shadow
	   Secure user account information.

EXIT VALUES
       The chage command exits with the following values:

       0
	   success

       1
	   permission denied

       2
	   invalid command syntax

       15
	   can't find the shadow password file

SEE ALSO
       passwd(5), shadow(5).

shadow-utils 4.18.0		  06/27/2025			      CHAGE(1)