Changing a Password

There are two different procedures that can be used to change passwords. This procedure allows a specific user to change their own password using the chg-pid command. The other procedure is for the EAGLE administrator to change the password of any user (see the Changing User Information procedure).

Rules for Changing a Password

The rules for the format of the password are determined by the chg-secu-dflt command (see the Changing the Security Defaults procedure for more information) and are displayed in the scroll area of the terminal before the password prompt is issued, or by entering the rtrv-secu-dflt command.

The minintrvl parameter of the chg-secu-dflt command defines the minimum number of days between attempts to change a password. If this attempt occurs during this interval, the password cannot be changed.

The pchreuse parameter of the chg-secu-dflt command defines the number of characters that cannot be reused from the current password when setting the new password. For example, if the pchreuse parameter value is 5, no more than five characters of the current password can be reused in the new password. If the new password contains more the five characters from the current password, the new password will be rejected.

The preuse parameter defines the number of previous passwords that cannot be used. If the preuse parameter value is 6, the previous six passwords cannot be used. If the new password is one of the number of previous passwords defined by the preuse parameter, the new password will be rejected.

When the password is being changed with the chg-pid command, the minimum requirements for passwords are displayed after the current password is entered at the Enter Old Password: prompt.

The password is not case sensitive. For security reasons, the password is never displayed on the terminal.

Note:

This procedure can be performed on all terminals (1 - 40) if the Eagle OA&M IP Security Enhancements feature is on. If this feature is on, the entry YES is shown for terminals 17 through 40 in the SECURE column in the rtrv-trm output. The output of the rtrv-ctrl-feat command also shows if this feature is on or off. If this feature is off, this procedure can be performed only on terminals 1 through 16. If you wish to use the EAGLE OA&M IP Security Enhancements feature, and the feature is not on, go to the Activating the EAGLE OA&M IP Security Enhancement Controlled Feature procedure to enable and activate this feature.

1. Log into the EAGLE using the login or act-user command.

   This is an example of the messages that appear when you have successfully logged onto the EAGLE.

   NOTICE: This is a private computer system. 
   Unauthorized access or use may lead to prosecution. 
   
   0 LOGIN failures since last successful LOGIN
   Last successful LOGIN was on port 4 on 04-06-01 @ 09:12:36
   

2. Enter the chg-pid command.
3. At the prompt enter old password, enter your current password.

   This is a security feature of this command. It prevents another user from changing the password of the user that is logged in to the EAGLE who may have stepped away from the terminal without logging off.

4. At the prompt enter new password, the minimum requirements for passwords are displayed as shown in the following example.

   rlghncxa03w 10-07-01 09:12:36 GMT  EAGLE5 42.0.0
   New password must contain:
     - between 8 and 12 characters
     - at least 1 alphabetic character(s) (‘a’-’z’)
     - at least 1 numeric character(s) (‘0’-’9’)
     - at least 1 punctuation character(s) (e.g. $%@#) 
   New password must:
     - be unique from the old password
     - be unique from the last 6 historical passwords
     - not reuse more than 4 characters from the old password
   

   Enter your new password making sure that the password meets the minimum requirements for passwords on your EAGLE.

   If the password is rejected, it did not meet the minimum requirements for passwords. Go back to 2 and start the process of changing the password again making sure that the new password meets the minimum character requirements.

5. At the prompt verify new password, enter the password that was entered in 4 again.

   If the password is rejected, either the new password entered in this step did not match the password entered in 4 , or the password entered in 3 did not match the original password. Go back to 2 and start the process of changing the password again making sure that the current password entered in 3 is correct and that the new password meets the minimum character requirements shown at the enter new password prompt.

6. When the command executed message appears, the execution of the command has been completed, and the new password has been entered into the EAGLE database.

   This message should also appear.

7. Back up the new changes using the chg-db:action=backup:dest=fixed command.

   These messages should appear, the active Maintenance and Administration Subsystem Processor (MASP) appears first.

   BACKUP (FIXED) : MASP A - Backup starts on active MASP.
   BACKUP (FIXED) : MASP A - Backup on active MASP to fixed disk complete.
   BACKUP (FIXED) : MASP A - Backup starts on standby MASP.
   BACKUP (FIXED) : MASP A - Backup on standby MASP to fixed disk complete.
   

Figure 4-9 Changing a Password