Last update 21-Jan-2002

mbpasswd - The password wrapper.

Synopsis.

mbpasswd [-opt] [username] [password]

 

Description.

mbpasswd is the wrapper for the passwd program is present on all GNU/Linux systems. To use passwd to change the password of another user is only allowed by root. The mbpasswd program overcomes this limitation. The wrapper mbpasswd is run from the bbs by user mbse when a new user is being registered to set his password. It can also be started from the bbs when an existing user changes his password. If you as sysop use mbsetup to change a users password it will be used too. His password under Unix is then always the same as his password in the bbs program. This is necessary for the user to be able to get his email using the pop3 protocol.

You never need to run mbpasswd by hand, in fact it is protected so that only members of group bbs are allowed to use it. User mbse can use this program and if you do, the password for a user are not in sync anymore.

 

Environment.

mbpasswd must be installed setuid root and setgid root, ls -la looks like this:

-rws--s--x   1 root     root         6644 Jun 26 21:23 /opt/mbse/bin/mbpasswd*

 

Commands.

mbpasswd [-opt] [username] [password] for example:

mbpasswd -f michiel secret

Valid options are -f (forced), this will also change locked passwords, this has only effect if your system uses shadow passwords. This is used for new users or from the mbsetup program to reset users passwords.
If you use -n as option, locked passwords cannot be changed. This mode is used when a user changes his password from the bbs.

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