1 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
3 Copyright (c) 1990 - 1994, Julianne Frances Haugh
4 Copyright (c) 2007 - 2008, Nicolas François
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8 modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
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31 <!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V4.5//EN"
32 "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd" [
33 <!ENTITY CHFN_AUTH SYSTEM "login.defs.d/CHFN_AUTH.xml">
34 <!ENTITY CHFN_RESTRICT SYSTEM "login.defs.d/CHFN_RESTRICT.xml">
35 <!ENTITY LOGIN_STRING SYSTEM "login.defs.d/LOGIN_STRING.xml">
38 <refentry id='chfn.1'>
39 <!-- $Id: chfn.1.xml 2435 2008-10-11 11:44:43Z nekral-guest $ -->
41 <refentrytitle>chfn</refentrytitle>
42 <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
43 <refmiscinfo class="sectdesc">User Commands</refmiscinfo>
45 <refnamediv id='name'>
46 <refname>chfn</refname>
47 <refpurpose>change real user name and information</refpurpose>
50 <refsynopsisdiv id='synopsis'>
52 <command>chfn</command>
53 <arg choice='opt'>-f <replaceable>full_name</replaceable></arg>
54 <arg choice='opt'>-r <replaceable>room_no</replaceable></arg>
55 <arg choice='opt'>-w <replaceable>work_ph</replaceable></arg>
56 <arg choice='opt'>-h <replaceable>home_ph</replaceable></arg>
57 <arg choice='opt'>-o <replaceable>other</replaceable></arg>
58 <arg choice='opt'><replaceable>user</replaceable></arg>
62 <refsect1 id='description'>
63 <title>DESCRIPTION</title>
65 The <command>chfn</command> command changes user fullname,
66 office number, office extension, and home phone number information
67 for a user's account. This information is typically printed by
68 <citerefentry><refentrytitle>finger</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
69 </citerefentry> and similar programs. A normal user may only change
70 the fields for her own account, subject to the restrictions in
71 <filename>/etc/login.defs</filename>. (The default configuration is to
72 prevent users from changing their fullname.) The superuser may change
73 any field for any account. Additionally, only the superuser may use
74 the <option>-o</option> option to change the undefined portions of the
79 These fields must not contain any colons. Except for the
80 <emphasis remap='I'>other</emphasis> field, they should not contain
81 any comma or equal sign. It is also recommended to avoid
82 non-US-ASCII characters, but this is only enforced for the phone
83 numbers. The <emphasis remap='I'>other</emphasis> field is used to
84 store accounting information used by other applications.
88 If none of the options are selected, <command>chfn</command>
89 operates in an interactive fashion, prompting the user with the
90 current values for all of the fields. Enter the new value to change
91 the field, or leave the line blank to use the current value. The
92 current value is displayed between a pair of <emphasis remap='B'>[
93 ]</emphasis> marks. Without options, <command>chfn</command>
94 prompts for the current user account.
98 <refsect1 id='configuration'>
99 <title>CONFIGURATION</title>
101 The following configuration variables in
102 <filename>/etc/login.defs</filename> change the behavior of this
112 <refsect1 id='files'>
116 <term><filename>/etc/login.defs</filename></term>
118 <para>Shadow password suite configuration.</para>
122 <term><filename>/etc/passwd</filename></term>
124 <para>User account information.</para>
130 <refsect1 id='see_also'>
131 <title>SEE ALSO</title>
134 <refentrytitle>chsh</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
137 <refentrytitle>login.defs</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum>
140 <refentrytitle>passwd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum>