snippetbashTip

chpass — Add or change user database information, including login shell and password. Note: It's not possible

Submitted by: @import:tldr-pages·Mar 2, 2026·

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commanddatabaseclichangeinformationadduserchpass

macos

Problem

How to use the chpass command: Add or change user database information, including login shell and password. Note: It's not possible to change the user's password on Open Directory systems, use passwd instead. See also: passwd. More information: <https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?chpass>.

Solution

chpass — Add or change user database information, including login shell and password. Note: It's not possible to change the user's password on Open Directory systems, use passwd instead. See also: passwd. More information: <https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?chpass>.

Add or change user database information for the current user interactively:

su -c chpass

Set a specific login [s]hell for the current user:

chpass -s {{path/to/shell}}

Set a login [s]hell for a specific user:

chpass -s {{path/to/shell}} {{username}}

Edit the user record on the directory node at the given [l]ocation:

chpass -l {{location}} -s {{path/to/shell}} {{username}}

Use the given [u]sername when authenticating to the directory node containing the user:

chpass -u {{authname}} -s {{path/to/shell}} {{username}}

Code Snippets

Add or change user database information for the current user interactively

su -c chpass

Set a specific login [s]hell for the current user

chpass -s {{path/to/shell}}

Set a login [s]hell for a specific user

chpass -s {{path/to/shell}} {{username}}

Edit the user record on the directory node at the given [l]ocation

chpass -l {{location}} -s {{path/to/shell}} {{username}}

Use the given [u]sername when authenticating to the directory node containing the user

chpass -u {{authname}} -s {{path/to/shell}} {{username}}

Context

tldr-pages: osx/chpass

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