PWHISTORY_HELPER(8)

✨ NAME ✨

okay bestie, meet pwhistory_helper — the helper binary that transfers password hashes from passwd or shadow to opasswd. that's the whole name vibe. this is the PWHISTORY_HELPER(8) page, btw 💖

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

pwhistory_helper [...]

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

pwhistory_helper is a helper program for the pam_pwhistory module. it has two main-character jobs:

• it transfers password hashes from the passwd or shadow file to the opasswd file
• it checks a password supplied by user against the existing hashes in the opasswd file

the whole reason this helper exists is to enable tighter confinement of login and password changing services. so it's only called when SELinux is enabled on the system. no cap.

🚨 bestie, listen: the interface of this helper — its command line options, and its input/output data format — is internal to the pam_pwhistory module. it should not be called directly from applications. like, do not do it. fr fr.

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💅 SEE ALSO 💅

• pam_pwhistory(8) — go read that one too, iykyk 🫶

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

Written by Tomas Mraz based on the code originally in the pam_pwhistory and pam_unix modules. iconic behavior honestly 🌟

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mwah 💖 this page is from Linux-PAM, dated 07/08/2026, and it's the PWHISTORY_HELPER(8) manual page. bye bestie, stay secure 🎀