Usou esta solução alternativa para resolver meu problema ...
/bin/grep "pam_tally2.so" /etc/pam.d/system-auth
if [ "$?" -eq "0" ]; then
#looks for line existence (pam_tally2.so) and delete it (if present)
/usr/bin/perl -i -pe 'chomp,$_.="" if /account\s.*required\s.*pam_tally2.so/' /etc/pam.d/system-auth
/usr/bin/find /etc/pam.d/system-auth.bkp | /usr/bin/xargs perl -pi -e 's/account\s*required\s*pam_tally2.so//'
#inserts the -deleted- line underneath pam_unix.so line, as desired. Creating a 'moving line' result.
/usr/bin/perl -i -pe 'chomp,$_.="\n" if /account\s.*required\s.*pam_unix.so/' /etc/pam.d/system-auth
/usr/bin/perl -i -pe 'chomp,$_.="\naccount required pam_tally2.so\n" if /account\s.*required\s.*pam_unix.so/' /etc/pam.d/system-auth
fi