Unclear reason for cc_users_groups supporting both "passwd" and "hashed_passwd" options for users about cloud-init HOT 3 OPEN

All good points.

Is there any reason why "passwd" should not be deprecated as "hashed_passwd" supports everything "passwd" does and more (i.e. setting password for existing users).

The main distinction is that passwd is used directly by useradd whereas hashed_passwd invokes chpasswd. While it is confusing and I wouldn't have created it this way from scratch, I do think that the distinction can be important for existing use cases. E.g., I launch an instance with user james:defaultpassword, then the user changes their password, then I snapshot the image and launch a new one, should that new user be able to login with their most recent credentials, or should they have their password reset?

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@TheRealFalcon

I do think that the distinction can be important for existing use cases. E.g., I launch an instance with user james:defaultpassword, then the user changes their password, then I snapshot the image and launch a new one, should that new user be able to login with their most recent credentials, or should they have their password reset?

I guess the question is why is the password setting "special"? None of the other options that apply for existing users ("doas", "lock_passwd", "sudo", "ssh_authorized_keys", "ssh_redirect_user") have an alternative that only works for new users.

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Yeah, good point. I'd be in favor of deprecating it.

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