Check password expiry with chage -l
See exactly when a user's password expires and what happens then — the forgotten counterpart to passwd.
Run `sudo chage -l alice` to list last change, expiry date, warning days, and inactivity lock for the account.
01Command
Command
$ sudo chage -l alice02What it does
A surprising number of locked-out users are just hitting chage policy: the password expired, the inactivity window elapsed, and sshd refuses the login. `chage -l` shows every aging field including the account expiry date (-E), which is separate from password expiry. Admins use `chage -d 0 alice` to force a password change at next login and `chage -M 90 alice` to set a 90-day rotation.
03Risk
04Undo
✓No undo needed — this command does not change persistent state.
05Sources
- chage(1) — change user password expiry informationEvidence: Documents -l listing aging info (last change, expiry, warning, inactivity) and options like -M and -E to set them.
Last verified: 2026-09-17 · Category: Security & Privacy