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- PPPPAAAASSSSSSSSMMMMAAAASSSSSSSS((((1111)))) UUUUNNNNIIIIXXXX SSSSyyyysssstttteeeemmmm VVVV ((((7777 OOOOccccttttoooobbbbeeeerrrr 1111999999993333)))) PPPPAAAASSSSSSSSMMMMAAAASSSSSSSS((((1111))))
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- passmass - change password on multiple machines
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- SSSSYYYYNNNNOOOOPPPPSSSSIIIISSSS
- ppppaaaassssssssmmmmaaaassssssss [ _h_o_s_t_1 _h_o_s_t_2 _h_o_s_t_3 ... ]
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- IIIINNNNTTTTRRRROOOODDDDUUUUCCCCTTTTIIIIOOOONNNN
- PPPPaaaassssssssmmmmaaaassssssss changes a password on multiple machines. If you
- have accounts on several machines that do not share password
- databases, Passmass can help you keep them all in sync.
- This, in turn, will make it easier to change them more
- frequently.
-
- When Passmass runs, it asks you for the old and new
- passwords. (If you are changing root passwords and have
- equivalencing, the old password is not used and may be
- omitted.)
-
- Passmass understands the "usual" conventions. Additional
- arguments may be used for tuning. They affect all hosts
- which follow until another argument overrides it. For
- example, if you are known as "libes" on host1 and host2, but
- "don" on host3, you would say:
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- passmass host1 host2 -user don host3
-
- Arguments are:
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- -user
- User whose password will be changed. By default,
- the current user is used.
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- -rlogin
- Use rlogin to access host. (default)
-
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- -telnet
- Use telnet to access host.
-
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- -program
- Next argument is taken as program to run to set
- password. Default is "passwd". Other common
- choices are "yppasswd" and "set passwd" (e.g., VMS
- hosts).
-
-
- -prompt
- Next argument is taken as a prompt suffix pattern.
- This allows the script to know when the shell is
- prompting. The default is "# " for root and "% "
-
-
-
- Page 1 (printed 7/23/95)
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- PPPPAAAASSSSSSSSMMMMAAAASSSSSSSS((((1111)))) UUUUNNNNIIIIXXXX SSSSyyyysssstttteeeemmmm VVVV ((((7777 OOOOccccttttoooobbbbeeeerrrr 1111999999993333)))) PPPPAAAASSSSSSSSMMMMAAAASSSSSSSS((((1111))))
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- for non-root accounts.
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- -timeout
- Next argument is number of seconds to wait for
- responses. Default is 30 but some systems can be
- much slower logging in.
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- HHHHOOOOWWWW TTTTOOOO UUUUSSSSEEEE
- The best way to run Passmass is to put the command in a
- one-line shell script or alias. Whenever you get a new
- account on a new machine, add the appropriate arguments to
- the command. Then run it whenever you want to change your
- passwords on all the hosts.
-
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- CCCCAAAAVVVVEEEEAAAATTTTSSSS
- It should be obvious that using the same password on
- multiple hosts carries risks. In particular, if the
- password can be stolen, then all of your accounts are at
- risk. Thus, you should not use Passmass in situations where
- your password is visible, such as across a network where
- hackers are known to eavesdrop.
-
- On the other hand, if you have enough accounts with
- different passwords, you may end up writing them down
- somewhere - and _t_h_a_t can be a security problem. Funny
- story: my college roommate had an 11"x13" piece of paper on
- which he had listed accounts and passwords all across the
- Internet. This was several years worth of careful work and
- he carried it with him everywhere he went. Well one day, he
- forgot to remove it from his jeans, and we found a perfectly
- blank sheet of paper when we took out the wash the following
- day!
-
- SSSSEEEEEEEE AAAALLLLSSSSOOOO
- "_E_x_p_l_o_r_i_n_g _E_x_p_e_c_t: _A _T_c_l-_B_a_s_e_d _T_o_o_l_k_i_t _f_o_r _A_u_t_o_m_a_t_i_n_g
- _I_n_t_e_r_a_c_t_i_v_e _P_r_o_g_r_a_m_s" by Don Libes, O'Reilly and Associates,
- January 1995.
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- AAAAUUUUTTTTHHHHOOOORRRR
- Don Libes, National Institute of Standards and Technology
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- Page 2 (printed 7/23/95)
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