Hi , can anyone explain me the difference between /etc/shadow and /etc/default/passwd . As per my knowledge both the files are used for password aging and control parameters.
The /etc/passwd contains one entry per line for each user (or user account) of the system.
Your encrpted password is not stored in /etc/passwd file.
It is stored in /etc/shadow file.
In simple words, the file /etc/default/passwd stores various policies like expiry, complexity for the password.
And the file /etc/shadow contains the password that has been set for the user but in an encrypted form.