Linux "chfn" Command Line Options and Examples
change real user name and information
The chfn command changes user fullname, office room number, office phone number, and home phone number information for a user's account. This information is typically printed by finger(1) and similar programs. A normal user may only change the fields for her own account, subject to the restrictions in /etc/login.
Usage:
chfn [options] [LOGIN]
Command Line Options:
-f
Change the user's full name.
chfn -f ...
-h
Change the user's home phone number.
chfn -h ...
-o
Change the user's other GECOS information. This field is used to store accounting information used by other applications, and canbe changed only by a superuser.
chfn -o ...
-r
Change the user's room number.
chfn -r ...
-R
Apply changes in the CHROOT_DIR directory and use the configuration files from the CHROOT_DIR directory.
chfn -R ...
-u
Display help message and exit.
chfn -u ...
-w
Change the user's office phone number.If none of the options are selected, chfn operates in an interactive fashion, prompting the user with the current values for all ofthe fields. Enter the new value to change the field, or leave the line blank to use the current value. The current value is displayedbetween a pair of [ ] marks. Without options, chfn prompts for the current user account.CONFIGURATIONThe following configuration variables in /etc/login.defs change the behavior of this tool:CHFN_RESTRICT (string)This parameter specifies which values in the gecos field of the /etc/passwd file may be changed by regular users using the chfnprogram. It can be any combination of letters f, r, w, h, for Full name, Room number, Work phone, and Home phone, respectively.For backward compatibility, yes is equivalent to rwh and no is equivalent to frwh. If not specified, only the superuser can makeany changes. The most restrictive setting is better achieved by not installing chfn SUID.FILES/etc/login.defsShadow password suite configuration./etc/passwdUser account information.
chfn -w ...