Error on trying to change password

[schollsky]

Package shadow is suggested, but I'm unsure.

I tried this after fresh installation (dual boot):

$ passwd
Changing password for stefan.
Current password:
New password:
/var/cache/cracklib/cracklib_dict.pwd.gz: No such file or directory
BAD PASSWORD: The password fails the dictionary check - error loading dictionary
New password:

Changing to new password is not possible.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.10
Package: passwd 1:4.8.1-1ubuntu6
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.8.0-33.36-generic 5.8.17
Uname: Linux 5.8.0-33-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu50.3
Architecture: amd64
CasperMD5CheckResult: skip
CurrentDesktop: MATE
Date: Tue Dec 29 18:41:26 2020
InstallationDate: Installed on 2020-12-29 (0 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-MATE 20.10 "Groovy Gorilla" - Release amd64 (20201022)
SourcePackage: shadow
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Steve Beattie (sbeattie)]

Hi, it seems that for some reason cracklib has failed to generate /var/cache/cracklib/cracklib_dict.pwd (or /var/cache/cracklib/cracklib_dict.pwd.gz).

There is a daily cronjob that is supposed to regenerate /var/cache/cracklib/cracklib_dict.pwd if the dictionaries it used as input are newer. I'm not sure why it's not generating your file correctly; you can manually run it via `sudo sh -xe /usr/sbin/update-cracklib` to see what's going wrong.

Also, for diagnostic purposes without needed to attempt to change the passwd, you can do `echo PASSWD | cracklib-check` to see if it is functioning correctly.

It would be good to work out how your system got in this state.