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Long time lurker, first time poster.

My linux server is behaving strangely. When I run sudo passwd, I can set my password up correctly. However, if I run sudo chsh -s /bin/bash, the command returns the error:

chsh: PAM: Authentication failure

When I run sudo echo "hi", I get as output:

hi

I can provide more details if requested. I have repeated this step three times and I am 100% sure that I am typing my password correctly.

$ cat /etc/*release

DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu
DISTRIB_RELEASE=20.04
DISTRIB_CODENAME=focal
DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS"
NAME="Ubuntu"
VERSION="20.04.1 LTS (Focal Fossa)"
ID=ubuntu
ID_LIKE=debian
PRETTY_NAME="Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS"
VERSION_ID="20.04"
HOME_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/"
SUPPORT_URL="https://help.ubuntu.com/"
BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/"
PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://www.ubuntu.com/legal/terms-and-policies/privacy-policy"
VERSION_CODENAME=focal
UBUNTU_CODENAME=focal

Thank you!

screenshot of terminal

1 Answer 1

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I am a dumb $ sudo passwd alexander

You can now choose the new password or passphrase.

A valid password should be a mix of upper and lower case letters,
digits, and other characters.  You can use a 12 character long
password with characters from at least 3 of these 4 classes, or
an 8 character long password containing characters from all the
classes.  An upper case letter that begins the password and a
digit that ends it do not count towards the number of character
classes used.

A passphrase should be of at least 3 words, 16 to 40 characters
long, and contain enough different characters.

Alternatively, if no one else can see your terminal now, you can
pick this as your password: "claw5Met8sword".

Enter new password:
Re-type new password:
passwd: password updated successfully

Followed by $ chsh -s /bin/bash

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