PWHISTORY.CONF(5) Linux-PAM Manual PWHISTORY.CONF(5)
NAME
pwhistory.conf - pam_pwhistory configuration file
DESCRIPTION
pwhistory.conf provides a way to configure the default settings for
saving the last passwords for each user. This file is read by the
pam_pwhistory module and is the preferred method over configuring
pam_pwhistory directly.
The file has a very simple name = value format with possible comments
starting with # character. The whitespace at the beginning of line, end
of line, and around the = sign is ignored.
OPTIONS
debug
Turns on debugging via syslog(3).
enforce_for_root
If this option is set, the check is enforced for root, too.
remember=N
The last N passwords for each user are saved. The default is 10.
Value of 0 makes the module to keep the existing contents of the
opasswd file unchanged.
retry=N
Prompt user at most N times before returning with error. The default
is 1.
file=/path/filename
Store password history in file /path/filename rather than the
default location. The default location is /etc/security/opasswd.
EXAMPLES
/etc/security/pwhistory.conf file example:
debug
remember=5
file=/tmp/opasswd
FILES
/etc/security/pwhistory.conf
the config file for custom options
SEE ALSO
pwhistory(8), pam_pwhistory(8), pam.conf(5), pam.d(5), pam(8)
AUTHOR
pam_pwhistory was written by Thorsten Kukuk. The support for
pwhistory.conf was written by Iker Pedrosa.
Linux-PAM 06/29/2025 PWHISTORY.CONF(5)
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