Yes, this is an configuration issue. By default Ubuntu's root account is disabled and chfn should surely handle this configuration and just work. But it does not.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo tells to execute 'passwd -l root' to "re-disable" the root account. As I understand it this is Ubuntu's default configuration and chfn fails to work with it. -- 'Account has expired' message when adding a new user https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/238755 You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list ubuntu-bugs@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
