Environment
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9
SUSE Linux Desktop 9Situation
Every time a user changes her password, you would like it to be stored in a password history file. Additionally, PAM should check this file so that users can't reuse their previous "N" number of passwords.
Resolution
NOTE: For a newer article on this topic, see KB 7008156, https://www.suse.com/support/kb/doc/?id=7008156
Edit:
/etc/pam.d/password (SLES9, OES/Linux 1, Novell Linux Desktop 9)
or
/etc/pam.d/common-password (SLE 10, OES/Linux 2)
and change the line:
/etc/pam.d/password (SLES9, OES/Linux 1, Novell Linux Desktop 9)
or
/etc/pam.d/common-password (SLE 10, OES/Linux 2)
and change the line:
password required pam_pwcheck.so nullok
topassword required pam_pwcheck.so nullok remember=N
Put in the number of passwords you want to be saved/checked instead of "N".
Additional Information
The passwords are stored /etc/security/opasswd and checked every time a user changes her password.
Change Log
Added link to newer article for newer versions of SLES. Corrected spelling of pam file names. (common-passwd to common-password).