lfs-book/chapter06/config-shadowpwd.xml

<sect2><title>&nbsp;</title><para>&nbsp;</para></sect2>

<sect2><title>Configuring Shadow</title>

<para>This package contains utilities to modify users' passwords, add
or delete users and groups, and the like. We're not going to explain what
'password shadowing' means. A full explanation can be found in the
<filename>doc/HOWTO</filename>
file within the unpacked Shadow source tree. There's one 
thing to keep in mind if you decide to use Shadow support: programs that
need to verify passwords (for example xdm, ftp daemons, pop3 daemons) need
to be 'shadow-compliant', that is they need to be able to work with 
shadowed passwords.</para>

<para>To enable shadowed passwords, run the following command:</para>

<screen><userinput>/usr/sbin/pwconv</userinput></screen>

<para>And to enable shadowed group passwords, run the following
command:</para>

<screen><userinput>/usr/sbin/grpconv</userinput></screen>

<para>Under normal circumstances, you won't have created any passwords yet.
However, if returning to this section to enable shadowing, you should reset any
current user passwords with the <userinput>passwd</userinput> command or any
group passwords with the <userinput>gpasswd</userinput> command.</para>
</sect2>