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Systems & Data Center · Foundational

/etc/shadow

The root-only Linux file that stores hashed user passwords and password aging information.

Definition

Fields include username, hashed password (modern systems use yescrypt or SHA-512), last change date, minimum and maximum age, warning period, inactivity period and expiration date. An ! or * in the hash field locks the account.

Example

chage -l jdoe displays the aging values stored in /etc/shadow.

Exam tip

Know that hashes moved from /etc/passwd to /etc/shadow so they are not world-readable.

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