Shadow's Configuration File /etc/login.defs Enabling MD5 Passwords To enable MD5 Passwords, modify the line in the login.defs file that reads: #MD5_CRYPT_ENAB no to read: MD5_CRYPT_ENAB yes Passwords created after this change will be encrypted using MD5 instead of using DES encryption. &shadow-inst; &shadow-exp; &shadow-config;