Provided by:
login_4.1.4.2-1ubuntu3_i386 
CONFIGURATION
The following configuration variables in /etc/login.defs change the
behavior of this tool:
CONSOLE_GROUPS (string)
List of groups to add to the users supplementary groups set when
logging in on the console (as determined by the CONSOLE setting).
Default is none.
Use with caution - it is possible for users to gain permanent
access to these groups, even when not logged in on the console.
DEFAULT_HOME (boolean)
Indicate if login is allowed if we cant cd to the home directory.
Default in no.
If set to yes, the user will login in the root (/) directory if it
is not possible to cd to her home directory.
ENV_PATH (string)
If set, it will be used to define the PATH environment variable
when a regular user login. The value can be preceded by PATH=, or a
colon separated list of paths (for example /bin:/usr/bin). The
default value is PATH=/bin:/usr/bin.
ENV_SUPATH (string)
If set, it will be used to define the PATH environment variable
when the superuser login. The value can be preceded by PATH=, or a
colon separated list of paths (for example
/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin). The default value is
PATH=/bin:/usr/bin.
ERASECHAR (number)
Terminal ERASE character (010 = backspace, 0177 = DEL).
The value can be prefixed "0" for an octal value, or "0x" for an
hexadecimal value.
FAIL_DELAY (number)
Delay in seconds before being allowed another attempt after a login
failure.
FAKE_SHELL (string)
If set, login will execute this shell instead of the users shell
specified in /etc/passwd.
HUSHLOGIN_FILE (string)
If defined, this file can inhibit all the usual chatter during the
login sequence. If a full pathname is specified, then hushed mode
will be enabled if the users name or shell are found in the file.
If not a full pathname, then hushed mode will be enabled if the
file exists in the users home directory.
KILLCHAR (number)
Terminal KILL character (025 = CTRL/U).
The value can be prefixed "0" for an octal value, or "0x" for an
hexadecimal value.
LOGIN_RETRIES (number)
Maximum number of login retries in case of bad password.
This will most likely be overriden by PAM, since the default
pam_unix module has its own built in of 3 retries. However, this is
a safe fallback in case you are using an authentication module that
does not enforce PAM_MAXTRIES.
LOGIN_TIMEOUT (number)
Max time in seconds for login.
LOG_OK_LOGINS (boolean)
Enable logging of successful logins.
LOG_UNKFAIL_ENAB (boolean)
Enable display of unknown usernames when login failures are
recorded.
Note: logging unknown usernames may be a security issue if an user
enter her password instead of her login name.
TTYGROUP (string), TTYPERM (string)
The terminal permissions: the login tty will be owned by the
TTYGROUP group, and the permissions will be set to TTYPERM.
By default, the ownership of the terminal is set to the users
primary group and the permissions are set to 0600.
TTYGROUP can be either the name of a group or a numeric group
identifier.
If you have a write program which is "setgid" to a special group
which owns the terminals, define TTYGROUP to the group number and
TTYPERM to 0620. Otherwise leave TTYGROUP commented out and assign
TTYPERM to either 622 or 600.
TTYTYPE_FILE (string)
If defined, file which maps tty line to TERM environment parameter.
Each line of the file is in a format something like "vt100 tty01".
USERGROUPS_ENAB (boolean)
If set to yes, userdel will remove the users group if it contains
no more members, and useradd will create by default a group with
the name of the user.
/var/run/utmp
/var/log/wtmp
/etc/passwd
/etc/shadow
/etc/motd
/etc/nologin
/etc/ttytype
$HOME/.hushlogin
/etc/login.defs
mail(1), passwd(1), sh(1), su(1), login.defs(5), nologin(5), passwd(5),
securetty(5), getty(8).
09/03/2010 login(1)