Account Lock

maobin · 03-16-2011, 08:32 PM

Hi,
I would like to know if it is possible to know the reason for a account lock.

Eg if an account is locked due to multiple password attempts.

corp769 · 03-16-2011, 09:11 PM

You would need to contact your system administrator.

maobin · 03-17-2011, 12:06 AM

my machine is stand alone. There is no system administrator, I'm the only user.

As a system administrator, how can that be checked? Is there a log file i can look at? I've looked at /var/log/secure but does seem to have any indication.

corp769 · 03-17-2011, 12:19 AM

So you locked yourself out?

maobin · 03-17-2011, 12:36 AM

I've created an account and purposefully locked it. I wanted to see if root or system administrator is able to identify the reason for being locked. I know how to unlock an account with root.

corp769 · 03-17-2011, 12:56 AM

I am pretty sure that the logs won't tell you why an account became locked. All locked accounts will look different from the rest of the users in /etc/passwd (users with !! are locked).

maobin · 03-17-2011, 01:29 AM

ya. i understand that i can see if the account is lock using lchage. just that i have to know the reason.