NAME

passwd, netkey − change user password

SYNOPSIS

­passwd

­netkey

DESCRIPTION

­Passwd changes the invoker’s Plan 9 password and/or APOP secret.  The Plan 9 password is used to login to a terminal while the APOP secret is used for a number of external services: POP3, IMAP, and VPN access. 

The program first prompts for the old Plan 9 password to establish identity.  It then prompts for changes to the password and the secret.  New passwords and secrets must be typed twice, to forestall mistakes.  New passwords must be sufficiently hard to guess.  They may of any length greater than seven characters. 

­Netkey uses the password to encrypt network challenges.  It is a substitute for a SecureNet box. 

These commands may be run only on a terminal, to avoid transmitting clear text passwords over the network. 

FILES

­/dev/key

SOURCE

­/sys/src/cmd/auth/passwd.c
­/sys/src/cmd/auth/netkey.c

SEE ALSO

encrypt(2), cons(3), securenet(8)

Robert Morris and Ken Thompson, “UNIX Password Security,” ­AT&T Bell Laboratories Technical Journal Vol 63 (1984), pp. 1649-1672

Plan 9  —  July 29, 2000