passwd

Change a user's password

What it does

passwd with no arguments changes your own password: it asks for the current one, then the new one twice. What you type is not shown, not even as asterisks, and that is normal.

With sudo and a user name it sets anyone's password without asking for the old one: that is how you give a new user a password or reset a forgotten one.

Syntax

passwd
sudo passwd <user>

Examples

• Set a new password for the user deploy

  sudo passwd deploy

  • passwd — change a password
  • deploy — whose; without a name, your own

Related commands

• adduser — Create a new user
• sudo — Run a command with admin rights
• ssh — Connect to a remote server

Practise · All commands