UPGRADE_SYMPA_PASSWORD(1)

💖 UPGRADE_SYMPA_PASSWORD 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because we're talking about upgrade_sympa_password — also known as upgrade_sympa_password.pl — from the sympa manual pages (section 1, obviously, we're fancy like that). It's the little script that handles upgrading passwords in the database. Yeah. The glow-up your password column has been waiting for. 💅

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

upgrade_sympa_password.pl [--dry_run|-n] [--debug|d] [--verbose|v] [--config file ] [--cache file] [--nosavecache] [--noupdateuser] [--limit|l number_of_users]

like, that's the whole vibe. one script, a bunch of flags, and a dream. 🦋

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🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

• --dry_run|-n — bestie this is the rehearsal. It shows you exactly what's gonna happen, but it does not actually perform the upgrade process. Zero commitment. Iconic behaviour honestly. 🙈
• --debug|-d — prints extra debugging information while the upgrade process is running. it's giving "let me tell you everything that's going on". 👑
• --verbose|-v — prints verbose logging messages during the upgrade process. not as extra as --debug, but still chatty. 💬
• --config FILENAME — tells the script the pathname of the file to use as the Sympa configuration file. If you don't say anything, it just uses the system default Sympa configuration file like a chill lil default queen. 🧚
• --cache FILENAME — gives the pathname of a file where it stores precalculated hashes, so they can be reused on subsequent runs of the script. The file is created if it does not already exist, no cap. This one is genuinely useful for large sites that use intentionally expensive password hashes such as bcrypt — in that case you can run this script in advance, precalculate hashes, and cut down the time needed during the final upgrade process. pre-gaming the upgrade, fr fr. 🍓

⚠️ WARNING: since it contains sensitive password data, this file should be protected as carefully as any other password file, or a database dump of the Sympa user_table. like… treat it like your diary. actually no, more carefully than that. 💀

• --nosavecache — disables updates of the cache. The cache is still consulted if you specified it with "--cache". so it still reads, it just refuses to write. boundaries. ✋
• --noupdateuser — disables updates of the user_table. Mostly useful when you're precalculating user hashes in advance. hands off the table, bestie. 🫶

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

okay so here's the lore. Versions later than 5.4 use one-way hashes instead of symmetric encryption to store passwords. This script upgrades any symmetric encrypted passwords it finds to one-way hashes. glow-up complete. ✨

Versions later than 6.2.26 support bcrypt. fancy.

This upgrade requires rewriting user password entries in the database. and, and, and—

🚨 This upgrade IS NOT REVERSIBLE. no undo button. no take-backs. no "wait bestie I changed my mind". back up your stuff. 😭

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📜 HISTORY 📜

let's take a lil walk down memory lane, shall we? 🌈

• As of Sympa 3.1b.7, passwords may be stored into user table with encrypted form by reversible RC4.
• Sympa 5.4 or later uses MD5 one-way hash function to encode user passwords.
• Sympa 6.2.26 or later has optional support for bcrypt.

three eras. three aesthetics. one password column that's been through it. 💜

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and that's the whole page, bestie!! this was sympa 6.2.70, dated 2026-07-13, and yeah, the version footer said exactly that and I'm saying it too because I love you. now go protect that cache file. 💖🦋🎀