Track email users password changes

anand

• February 25, 2014 09:15

Hi, For a client we have 400 users who check their emails regularly, but do not follow the policy of password changes i.e. every 30 days they need to change their password. Now they do not login to webmail, so I cannot use cpanel built in functionality to force them to change passwords. Is there a way we can track when a users last password was changed ? We can then send them a reminder to change passwords. Thanks

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  cPanelMichael

  • February 25, 2014 19:19

  Hello :) The date of the last password change is recorded in the shadow file (for email it's stored in /home/$username/etc/$domain/). The following link explains how to find it: [url=http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/understanding-etcshadow-file/]Understanding /etc/shadow file Thank you.

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  anand

  • February 25, 2014 23:48

  [quote="cPanelMichael, post: 1581601">The date of the last password change is recorded in the shadow file (for email it's stored in /home/$username/etc/$domain). The following link explains how to find it: [url=http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/understanding-etcshadow-file/]Understanding /etc/shadow file
  Ok cool, thanks. That's what I was looking for. A few lines from the article on shadow files [Quote] The last 6 fields provides password aging and account lockout features (you need to use chage command to setup password aging).
  Is this the same way cpanel forces password change for email users ? Thanks

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  cPanelMichael

  • February 26, 2014 14:47

  cPanel uses a combination of it's own scripts and the shadow files for password aging. Thank you.

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  anand

  • February 27, 2014 07:15

  [quote="cPanelMichael, post: 1582451">cPanel uses a combination of it's own scripts and the shadow files for password aging. Thank you.
  Is it possible to get more insight on this :) Perhaps I can simulate my own notifications to users the same way. Thanks

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  cPanelMichael

  • February 27, 2014 13:44

  The previous link provided should provide you with enough information about the shadow file so you can develop your own application: [url=http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/understanding-etcshadow-file/]Understanding /etc/shadow file The module/script that cPanel uses to implement the checking is not open source as far as I know, but you are welcome to make a new post on our Developers forum to get input on how to setup such an application from other users. Thank you.

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  anand

  • February 27, 2014 13:51

  ok thanks for the help. Will post in developer section.

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