Problem changing local root password

[Andrew.Bridgeman at corusgroup.com]

We are currently trying to change the local root password on 40 Linux
Redhat WS Version 3 machines but we keep getting the error below. Can
anyone help with this? Has anyone seen this before?

[root at linux etc]# passwd
Changing password for user root.
New password:
Retype new password:
RPC: Can't encode arguments
The password has not been changed on sunnisserver.
passwd: Failed preliminary check by password service
[root at linux etc]#

Regards

Andrew Bridgeman
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