Linux - NewbieThis Linux forum is for members that are new to Linux.
Just starting out and have a question?
If it is not in the man pages or the how-to's this is the place!
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
Running Fedora 10 server. ssh login over Internet. Verify users are complaining they canno change their account password after they login in. They need to be able to change their password as all users have the same initial password. Makes sense, right? Shell lets you go through the motions and then displays the following message:
passwd: Authentication service cannot retrieve authentication info
What does this message mean and how can I fix this? Thanks a bunch
is there something wrong with EOL in /etc/shadow? is /etc/shadow containing correct data? did you edit it manually?
i had same trouble time ago: i just googled for it(the error message) and found out i used wrong EOL in /etc/shado after i edited it myself.
Not to sure what you mean by EOL in the shadow file. The /etc/passwd points to the shadow file as it should. My users just can't change their own passwords using passwd command. Can you be more specific regarding your remedie? Thanks, Ron
My thanks to everyone that helped me on this. I finally go the answer and figured out what needed to be done. The answer was to make the following changes in /etc/nsswitch.conf
changeasswd: files
group: files
shadow: files
to: passwd: files nis
group: files nis
shadow: files nis
This got rid of the:
passwd: Authentication service cannot retrieve authentication info
message and allowed normal users to change their password.
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.