---
layout: page
category-page: intermediate
category-title: Intermediate commands
author: Joy Albertini
tags: directory user shell
title: chsh
previous-page: pages/cmd/interm/chroot.html
next-page: pages/cmd/interm/curl.html
---

The <code>chsh</code> command can be used to change the following user's login shell properties:

<ul>
    <li>chenage Password of the user</li>
    <li> shell local directory</li>
    <li>Full name of the user</li>
    <li>Office location</li>
    <li>Office phone</li>
    <li>home phone </li>
</ul>

<pre>
chsh [-flag] user
</pre>

<h3>Flags</h3>

<ul>
    <li><b>-s</b>: set shell as the login shell</li>
    <li><b>-l</b>: change the symbolic link and not the file or directory referred
        by the symbolic link.
    </li>
    <li><b>-R</b>: change the ownership for each file in a folder, if encounter symbolic link
        it will change the owenership of that symbolic link,
        and the directory/file referred in the symbolic link, but the directory
        is not further transversed.
    </li>
    <li><b>-RH</b>: change the ownership for each file in a folder, if a symbolic link is
        encountered, it will change the owenership of that symbolic link,
        the directory/file referred in the symbolic link, and all the
        directories are further transversed.
    </li>
    <li><b>-RL</b>: if a symbolic link referencing a file of type directory
        is specified on the command line or encountered during the traversal of a file hierarchy,
        the chown command will change the user ID (and group ID, if specified) of the directory
        referenced by the symbolic link and all files in the file hierarchy below it.
    </li>
    <li><b>-RP</b>: changes the ownership for each file in a folder, if encounter symbolic link it
        will change the owenership of that symbolic link, but will not change the
        the directory/file referred in the symbolic link, and
        the directory is not further transversed.
    </li>
</ul>