how to set account expiry in minutes ?

[knarf_foo]

hello all,

i know that account expiry are set in days in /etc/shadow.
is there a way to set account expiry in minutes?
or set a time at which an account is to be disabled?

tnx in adv.

[mrBen]

You can use the chage command, eg:

chage -E 2007-05-10 knarf_foo

See the chage man page for more details.

[mrBen]

Oh, and I couldn't see a way to set it in minutes, sorry.

[knarf_foo]

thx for the reply ben.

Actually here the problem. The local post-offices a currently letting the public use PC for free. But there's the concern that some users will monopolise the limited number of PCs. I think the PCs run Suse (was so last time I checked..) So they're thinking about making the public pay for the service.

Now I just thought that if there was a way to disable an account after a certain period of time (say 30 minutes), that might help the above situation. The ideal solution should be relatively straightforward (and with a GUI if possible) so that an account can easily be created and its expiry time set...

Maybe there's some really easy solution to this... If not, this could be some kind of challenge...

[mrBen]

Take a look at some of the cybercafe software out there - there is usually a management system, and then some sort of client daemon that logs the PC out when the time has expired.

I looked at some about 18 months ago - the 3 that looked interesting were:
OpenKiosk (http://openkiosk.sourceforge.net/)
CybOrg (http://cyborg.sourceforge.net/index.html.en)
DireqCafe (http://directory.fsf.org/DireqCafe.html) (although this seems to be dead now)

HTH

[mrBen]

Oh, and I just found OutKafe (http://outkastsolutions.co.za/outkast/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=37) which, unlike the others, seems like it might be actively maintained.

[knarf_foo]

thnx ben for the fast replies and suggestions.

as yet i haven't been able to test any of your suggestions myself.
wanted to test out outkafe but haven't been able to get postgresql to work!
i'll keep trying... but in the meantime i'll see if the post-office people are interested in your suggestions and they'll decide...

thnx again...

regards,

francois