A directory entry for a SIMS user contains a userPassword attribute. The value of this attribute, which is used to authenticate the user to the directory, can be stored in encrypted or unencrypted format. See "General Properties Configuration" on page 188 for details of how to specify whether or not passwords are stored in an encrypted format. By default, passwords are encrypted.
When you supply a password for authentication, or as an attribute value in a directory operation, you specify the value in unencrypted format. You do not have to enter the password in its encrypted format.
The directory service software uses the crypt(1) utility to encrypt passwords.