Ansible Change User Password: Secure Password Management Guide

By Luca Berton · Published 2024-01-01 · Category: installation

How to change user passwords with Ansible. Use password_hash, vault encryption, and user module to manage passwords securely on Linux and Windows.

Ansible Change User Password: Secure Password Management Guide

How to Change a User Password with Ansible

Welcome to another episode of Ansible Pilot! I'm Luca Berton, and in today's session, we'll explore how to change a user password using Ansible. The Ansible module we'll be focusing on is ansible.builtin.user, a stable and well-established module that comes bundled with Ansible. It's designed to manage user accounts on various Linux distributions, SunOS, macOS, and FreeBSD.

Understanding the Ansible `user` Module

The ansible.builtin.user module falls under the "builtin" collection of Ansible modules, indicating its integral nature within the Ansible framework. This module has been around for years and proves reliable in handling user accounts across a wide range of operating systems. For Windows environments, the equivalent module is ansible.windows.win_user.

Key Parameters

The user module offers a plethora of parameters to cater to various user management tasks. Here are some key parameters:

name (string): Specifies the username.
state (string): Indicates whether the user should be present or absent.
password (string): For Linux, the password must be encrypted; for macOS, it can be in cleartext.

The only mandatory parameter is "name" since it denotes the username. The "state" parameter is crucial and should be set to "present" when changing the password, as it ensures the account exists. The most significant parameter is "password," allowing you to set the new password. For macOS, the password is in cleartext, while for Linux, it must be encrypted. The password_hash filter can be used to generate an encrypted password. Optionally, you can specify the encryption algorithm and salt to enhance password security.

Live Demo: Changing a User Password in Linux

Let's dive into a practical Ansible playbook to Playbooknstrate changing a user account password in a Linux environment.

Ansible Playbook Code

change_password.yml

---
- name: user module Playbook
  hosts: all
  become: true
  vars:
    myuser: "example"
    mypassword: "password"
  tasks:
    - name: change password
      ansible.builtin.user:
        name: "{{ myuser }}"
        state: present
        password: "{{ mypassword | password_hash('sha512') }}"

Playbook Execution Output

$ ansible-playbook -i Playbook/inventory change\ user\ password/user.yaml
PLAY [user module Playbook] ***************************************************************************
TASK [Gathering Facts] ****************************************************************************
ok: [demo.example.com]
TASK [change password] ****************************************************************************
changed: [demo.example.com]
PLAY RECAP ****************************************************************************************
demo.example.com           : ok=2    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0

Verification

$ sshpass -p 'password' example@demo.example.com

Note: Ensure that the sshpass utility is installed on the system.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You've successfully learned how to change a user password using Ansible. The ansible.builtin.user module provides a robust and versatile solution for managing user accounts. Feel free to customize the playbook to suit your environment and security requirements. Happy automating!

Linux: Change Password

- name: Change user password
  ansible.builtin.user:
    name: john
    password: "{{ 'MySecurePass123!' | password_hash('sha512') }}"
    update_password: always
  become: true

Using Ansible Vault

# Create vault: ansible-vault create vault.yml
# vault.yml
user_password: "MySecurePass123!"

- name: Change password from vault
  ansible.builtin.user:
    name: john
    password: "{{ user_password | password_hash('sha512') }}"
  become: true

ansible-playbook site.yml --ask-vault-pass

Bulk Password Reset

- name: Reset all user passwords
  ansible.builtin.user:
    name: "{{ item.name }}"
    password: "{{ item.password | password_hash('sha512') }}"
    update_password: always
  loop: "{{ vault_users }}"
  loop_control:
    label: "{{ item.name }}"
  no_log: true
  become: true

- name: Set password and force change
  ansible.builtin.user:
    name: newuser
    password: "{{ temp_password | password_hash('sha512') }}"
  become: true

- name: Force password change at next login
  ansible.builtin.command: chage -d 0 newuser
  become: true

Windows Password

- name: Change Windows user password
  ansible.windows.win_user:
    name: john
    password: "{{ vault_win_password }}"
    update_password: always
  no_log: true

Generate Random Password

- name: Generate and set random password
  ansible.builtin.user:
    name: "{{ item }}"
    password: "{{ lookup('password', '/dev/null length=16 chars=ascii_letters,digits,punctuation') | password_hash('sha512') }}"
  loop: [user1, user2, user3]
  register: password_results
  no_log: true
  become: true

Password Hash Methods

Algorithm	Filter	Security
SHA-512	`password_hash('sha512')`	Recommended
SHA-256	`password_hash('sha256')`	Good
MD5	`password_hash('md5')`	Weak — avoid
bcrypt	`password_hash('bcrypt')`	Strong (needs passlib)

Set Password Expiry

- name: Set password expiry to 90 days
  ansible.builtin.command: >
    chage -M 90 -W 14 -I 7 {{ username }}
  become: true

FAQ

Why must I hash the password?

The Linux user module expects a pre-hashed password (like /etc/shadow format). Without hashing, the literal string becomes the hash, and login fails.

How do I check if a password works?

ansible host -m shell -a "echo 'password' | su - username -c whoami" -b

update_password: always vs on_create?

always: Changes password every run (ensures compliance)
on_create: Only sets password when creating the user

How do I avoid showing passwords in logs?

Always use no_log: true on tasks handling passwords.

Set Password (Linux)

- ansible.builtin.user:
    name: deploy
    password: "{{ 'MySecurePass123' | password_hash('sha512') }}"
  become: true
  no_log: true

Set Password from Vault

# group_vars/all/vault.yml (encrypted)
vault_user_password: "SuperSecret123"

# playbook.yml
- user:
    name: deploy
    password: "{{ vault_user_password | password_hash('sha512') }}"
  become: true
  no_log: true

Set Password with Salt

- user:
    name: deploy
    password: "{{ password | password_hash('sha512', 'mystaticSALT') }}"
  become: true
  no_log: true
# Static salt ensures idempotency (same input = same hash)

Change Multiple User Passwords

- vars:
    users:
      - { name: alice, password: "{{ vault_alice_pass }}" }
      - { name: bob, password: "{{ vault_bob_pass }}" }
      - { name: charlie, password: "{{ vault_charlie_pass }}" }
  user:
    name: "{{ item.name }}"
    password: "{{ item.password | password_hash('sha512') }}"
  loop: "{{ users }}"
  become: true
  no_log: true

- user:
    name: newuser
    password: "{{ temp_password | password_hash('sha512') }}"
  become: true
  no_log: true

- command: chage -d 0 newuser
  become: true

Set Password Expiry

- user:
    name: deploy
    password: "{{ password | password_hash('sha512') }}"
    password_expire_max: 90    # Max days between changes
    password_expire_min: 7     # Min days between changes
  become: true
  no_log: true

Generate Random Password

- set_fact:
    generated_password: "{{ lookup('password', '/dev/null length=16 chars=ascii_letters,digits,punctuation') }}"
  no_log: true

- user:
    name: deploy
    password: "{{ generated_password | password_hash('sha512') }}"
  become: true
  no_log: true

- debug:
    msg: "Password for deploy has been set"
  # Don't print the actual password!

Windows Password

- ansible.windows.win_user:
    name: Administrator
    password: "{{ vault_admin_password }}"
    password_never_expires: true
  no_log: true

Using chpasswd (Alternative)

- shell: echo "{{ username }}:{{ password }}" | chpasswd
  become: true
  no_log: true

Common Mistakes

# WRONG — plaintext password (not hashed)
- user:
    name: deploy
    password: "MyPassword123"
  # This sets the password HASH to the literal string!

# WRONG — missing no_log
- user:
    name: deploy
    password: "{{ pass | password_hash('sha512') }}"
  # Password hash visible in output!

# CORRECT
- user:
    name: deploy
    password: "{{ pass | password_hash('sha512') }}"
  no_log: true
  become: true

FAQ

Why does the task always show "changed"?

Without a static salt, password_hash generates a different hash each run. Add a salt: password_hash('sha512', 'mysalt').

How do I verify the password was set?

# On the remote host
sudo getent shadow username

Can I use bcrypt instead of SHA-512?

Yes: password_hash('blowfish'). Requires passlib Python library on the controller.

Category: installation

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Popular Topics

About Luca Berton

Ansible Change User Password: Secure Password Management Guide

How to Change a User Password with Ansible

Understanding the Ansible user Module

Key Parameters

Live Demo: Changing a User Password in Linux

Ansible Playbook Code

Playbook Execution Output

Verification

Conclusion

Linux: Change Password

Using Ansible Vault

Bulk Password Reset

Force Password Change at Next Login

Windows Password

Generate Random Password

Password Hash Methods

Set Password Expiry

FAQ

Why must I hash the password?

How do I check if a password works?

update_password: always vs on_create?

How do I avoid showing passwords in logs?

Set Password (Linux)

Set Password from Vault

Set Password with Salt

Change Multiple User Passwords

Force Password Change on Next Login

Set Password Expiry

Generate Random Password

Windows Password

Using chpasswd (Alternative)

Common Mistakes

FAQ

Why does the task always show "changed"?

How do I verify the password was set?

Can I use bcrypt instead of SHA-512?

Related Articles

Understanding the Ansible `user` Module