problems changing password

[Carroll, Jim]

Hello once again.

(We're still pretty early in the implementation/rollout of NIS+ and Linux
workstations, hence the learning curve.)

Users seem to be having a problem changing their passwords.  More to the
point:

$ passwd
New password:
Retype new password:
Old Password:
ERROR: Identifier invalid
       password not changed
Error while changing the NIS+ password.
Error: Password NOT changed
passwd: Authentication token manipulation error

Strangely enough, when a user tries to change the password from a Solaris
host, they don't have this problem.  However, having each user login to a
Solaris host just to do this, seems less than optimal.

Some history:  When I first started working with the desktop support guy, I
noticed that he was using MD5 encryption on the couple of accounts he was
using on his test system.  As wild speculation, I can only think that
*maybe* Linux is trying to cram MD5 into the passwd table, and Solaris isn't
too happy about it.  I suspect this is the problem, but don't know which
file to tweak to return to the basic crypto.

Pointers?

Jim Carroll