User Commands history_admin(1)
NAME
history_admin - administer password history database
SYNOPSIS
/history_admin [ -a age ] [ -c file ] [ -d
depth ] [ -f file ] [ -l ] [ -m format ] [ -X option ] [ -v
] function
DESCRIPTION
The history_admin utility maintains the password history
database used by npasswd, to control password reuse.
The form of history database entries is:
name:passwd,time-stamp:. . .:passwd,time-stamp:
name Is the user name.
passwd,time-stamp
The encrypted password and the time the password
was entered into the database. There can be mul-
tiple such items in a history entry.
This utility should be run as root, or by the user who
owns the history database. Creation of a new database
may require root privileges.
OPTIONS
-a time
Set the password history age limit to age days. A set-
ting of 0 disables the age limit.
-c file
Use configuration file file instead of npasswd-
lib/passwd.conf.
-d depth
Set the password retention limit to depth. A setting
of 0 disables the depth limit.
-f file
Path to the history database.
-l Log errors with syslog(3).
-m format
Select database format.
file History is stored in a text file.
dbm History is stored in a DBM database. This is the
default format if the DBM routines are available.
SunOS 5.6 Last change: 1
User Commands history_admin(1)
-X option
Set special options:
Dn Set internal debug level to n. See the "Command
line options" section in the Npasswd Reference
Manual for the available debugging levels.
-v Verbose.
function
Select maintenance function.
dump Dumps the database to standard output.
load Reads history records (of the form described
above) from standard input and populates the data-
base.
purge
Cleans the database of old and excess passwords:
o Removes entries for users who are not in the
password file.
o Removes passwords which are too old. This
limit is set in the npasswd configuration
file, but can be overridden by the -a option.
o Removes excess passwords. There is a limit
to how many passwords are kept for each user.
The limit is set in the npasswd configuration
file, but can be overridden by the -d option.
History_admin exits with 0 status if successful, and 1 for
failure.
EXAMPLES
Running a periodic database clean from cron:
history_admin -l purge 2> purge-errors
Creating the default database:
history_admin load < /dev/null
Populating alternate DBM database from a file:
history_admin -m dbm -f /tmp/new-history load < test-data
Removing a user from the default database:
history_admin dump | grep -v "^username:" | history_admin load
DIAGNOSTICS
Config file error 'filename' line n; message
An error was encountered in the configuration file.
SunOS 5.6 Last change: 2
User Commands history_admin(1)
Database error file 'filename' method 'what' error 'message'
A bad database path or format was given.
No history database
The history mechanism has been disabled in the confi-
guration file.
Unknown function 'what'
An unknown function was given.
Cannot make temp file 'filename', error errno
Failure to create database temporary file.
Cannot make DBM 'filename'
Failure to create DBM database.
No memory for DBM key copy
Temporary memory allocation failed.
Filter popen failed
The popen(3s) to process the flat history file format
failed.
History purge errors - new database left in 'filename'
An error was encountered in purging the history. The
database was left unchanged.
History load errors - new database left in 'filename'
An error was encountered trying to create a database.
FILES
- the default history database
BUGS
Undoubtedly there are bugs. They are not known at this
time.
SEE ALSO
npasswd(1)
Npasswd Reference Manual
AUTHOR
Clyde Hoover
Academic Computing Services and Instructional Technology
Services
The University of Texas at Austin
c.hoover@cc.utexas.edu
8c9 1998, The University of Texas at Austin. All rights
reserved.
SunOS 5.6 Last change: 3