Hey guys just wondering how i could lock a specific acount by prepending LK
to the password field in the /etc/shadow file.
it cannot be done through a command since the script gets called by a menu driven interface so i cant use "passwd". Is there a way where i can search for a specific account then maybe write to the file which the field needs LK?
Its a bash script by the way
thanks
Just use:
Lock account:
passwd -l {username}
Unlock:
passwd -u {username}
The string *LK* will appear in the password field for locked accounts in /etc/shadow
Yehhh but is there a way that i can do it without using passwd -l {username}
like if i can code something to directly modify the shoadow file without using the passwd command
maybe write to the shadow file
Ok, I have to ask, why would you want to do it anyother way.
If you dont have permissions to passwd you wont to /etc/shadow or /etc/passwd
For the project we are doing where not aloud to use any commands like passwd we have to modify the shadow directly they just love making things hard for us 
Im testing it on my own machine as root
On most unixes with a shadow file you'll need to run "pwconv" immediately after a manual edit.
See "man pwconv" an check against your local circumstances.
So is there a way to actually write to the shadow file and prepend LK to the file so you can lock it
without using the commands.
i found AWK is there a way i can use that to ask for input to search for the account then append LK to lock it delimeted by :
If this is a "Project" as you state, this forum is not to be used for School Projects.
man shadow
username:password:lastchg:min:max:warn:inactive:expire:flag
/etc/shadow entries should appear in exactly the same order as /etc/passwd entries;
If you prepend *LK* to the beginning of a line in /etc/shadow, you will break things.
If you append *LK* to the end of the line, you may get unexpected results.
<soapbox>
Manually mangling /etc/shadow is problematic for the following reason:
If you corrupt the root entry, you will not be able to perform administrative tasks on the server, and will need to reboot from alternate media to repair.
There is a reason that we have commands like passwd. They are to ensure the integrity of the system as a whole. If you wish to bypass these safeties, you risk the entire environment.</soapbox>
yehhh its going to be on a test machine so if it breaks it breaks but im trying to append LK
to the correct field in the shadow field. How could i do that?
Copy the shadow file.
Create an account.
Lock that account with "passwd -l".
Compare shadow file with the copy (man diff).
Post the output from "diff" for the awk experts to see.