Locating the shadow last-change field | LinuC Level 1 102 Exam original practice question

1.08.1Basic

Inspect an /etc/shadow record.

Identify the value that stores the password's last-change date as days since 1970-01-01.

mei:$6$example:20000:0:99999:7:::

Which value is the last-change day count?

Hint 1: Focus on account attributes

Separate account creation, home-directory handling, group membership, login identity, and password state before comparing the commands.

Hint 2: Key terms

Review the short definitions of account records, groups, home directories, shells, and password state involved.

/etc/shadow: The protected database containing password hashes and aging fields.
Last-change field: The number of days since the epoch when the password was last changed.
Minimum age: The minimum number of days before a password may be changed again.
Maximum age: The maximum number of days a password remains valid.
Warning days: The number of days before expiry when a warning is shown.

Detailed explanation

Correct20000

Correct. The third field stores the last-change day count.

Incorrect0

Incorrect. The fourth field is the minimum age.

Incorrect99999

Incorrect. The fifth field is the maximum age.

Incorrect7

Incorrect. The sixth field is the warning period.

An example you can run in a temporary verification environment.

printf '%s
' 'mei:$6$example:20000:0:99999:7:::' | cut -d: -f3

Foundation review

Identity attributes such as a user ID, home directory, and login shell.

Primary and supplementary groups used during permission checks.

State and time limits that control password changes and account access.

Question IDKL-102-1033

EnvironmentPOSIX cut / 模擬レコードのみ

Last technical review2026-08-13

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