chfn.1 (2010 09)

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chfn(1) chfn(1)

NAME

chfn - change user information used by ﬁnger command

SYNOPSIS

chfn [login-name ]

chfn -r files [login-name ]

chfn -r nis [login-name ]

chfn -r dce [login-name ]

DESCRIPTION

The

chfn command changes the user information that is stored in the repository for the current logged-

in user or for the user speciﬁed by login-name (see passwd (1)).

The information is organized as four comma-separated subﬁelds within the reserved (5th) ﬁeld of the

password ﬁle entry. It consists of the user’s full name, location code, ofﬁce phone number, and home

phone number, in that order. This information is used by the

finger command and other programs (see

ﬁnger(1)).

chfn prompts you for each subﬁeld. The prompt includes a default value, which is enclosed in brackets.

Accept the default value by pressing the Return key. To enter a blank subﬁeld, type the word

none.

The DCE repository (

-r dce) is only available if Integrated Login has been conﬁgured; see

auth.adm (1M). If Integrated Login has been conﬁgured, other considerations apply. A user with

appropriate DCE privileges is capable of modifying a user’s finger (gecos) information; this is not

dependent upon superuser privileges.

If the repository is not speciﬁed (as in

chfn [login-name ]), the finger information is changed in the

/etc/passwd ﬁle only.

Run

finger after running chfn to make sure the information was processed correctly.

Notes

The

chfn command is a hard link to the passwd command. When chfn is executed, actually the

passwd command gets executed with appropriate arguments to change the user gecos information in the

repository speciﬁed in the command line. If no repository is speciﬁed, the gecos information is changed in

the /etc/passwd ﬁle.

Arguments

Options

The following option is recognized:

-r Specify the repository to which the operation is to be applied. Supported repositories include

files, nis, and dce.

Subﬁeld Values

Name Up to 1022 printing characters.

The

finger command and other utilities expand an & found anywhere in this

subﬁeld by substituting the login name for it and shifting the ﬁrst letter of the

Location Up to 1022 printing characters.

Office Phone Up to 25 printing characters.

finger inserts appropriate hyphens if the value is all digits.

Home Phone Up to 25 printing characters.

finger inserts appropriate hyphens if the value is all digits.

Security Restrictions

You must have appropriate privileges to use the optional login-name argument to change another user’s

information.

HP-UX 11i Version 3: September 2010 − 1 − Hewlett-Packard Company 1

Summary of content (2 pages)

PAGE 1
chfn(1) chfn(1) NAME chfn - change user information used by finger command SYNOPSIS chfn [login-name ] chfn -r files [login-name ] chfn -r nis [login-name ] chfn -r dce [login-name ] DESCRIPTION The chfn command changes the user information that is stored in the repository for the current loggedin user or for the user specified by login-name (see passwd (1)). The information is organized as four comma-separated subfields within the reserved (5th) field of the password file entry.
PAGE 2
chfn(1) chfn(1) EXAMPLES The following is a sample run. The user’s input is shown in regular type. Name [Tracy Simmons]: Location (Ex: 47U-P5) []: 42L-P1 Office Phone (Ex: 1632) [77777]: 71863 Home Phone (Ex: 9875432) [4085551546]: none WARNINGS The encoding of office and extension information is installation-dependent. For historical reasons, the user’s name, etc., are stored in the /etc/passwd file. This is an inappropriate place to store the information.