First, we need to install the chosen word list for cracklib: mkdir -p /usr/share/dict/ && chmod 0644 /usr/share/dict && cp [wordlist] /usr/share/dict && chmod 0644 /usr/share/dict/[wordlist] && ln -sf [wordlist] /usr/share/dict/words Our word list is linked to /usr/share/dict/words as historically, words is the only file in the /usr/share/dict directory. You are welcome to shun history and adjust for your own needs. Now install cracklib using the following commands: patch -Np1 -i ../cracklib,&cracklib-version;-blfs-2.patch && make install