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αғsнιη
Asked: 2014-10-12 08:01:30 +0800 CST

How can I change the number of password entry attempts allowed by sudo?

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By default, sudo prompts me to input my user password a maximum of three times if I input wrong password. How can I change it to unlimited times(?)? How can I make it so that it asks me for my password until I enter the right one?

sudo

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    This is documented in man sudoers. The setting you are looking for is:

     passwd_tries      The number of tries a user gets to enter his/her pass‐
                   word before sudo logs the failure and exits.  The
                   default is 3.

    So, to change that to, for example, 5, run sudo visudo and add these lines:

    ## Allow a user to attempt to enter a password 5 times
Defaults        passwd_tries=5

    As far as I know, there is no way to set it to unlimited times but you can simply use a huge number:

    Defaults        passwd_tries=99999999

    That is unlimited for all intents and purposes, unless you have a user with a very severe case of OCD, they won't attempt to enter a password more than 100 million times.

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