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From man 5 shadow:
/etc/shadow-
Backup file for /etc/shadow.
Note that this file is used by the tools of the shadow toolsuite,
but not by all user and password management tools.
What I would like to know is, when this file is backed up? Is there a configuration file in which change the frequency of, or even disable, this backups?
Whenever you change the /etc/shadow file with the vipw or similar command, it saves the previous copy as /etc/shadow- . This is not a backup. It's simply an instant-mistake fixer.
It is retained as a copy of /etc/shadow and created upon changes. Nothing to configure there.
etc keeper.