[alexisl]

Is there a maximum password length and how do I change the default. I was setting a users password to 9 characters and found out that it would accept the first 8. I would really like to be able to make the passwords longer.

[steevojb]

Hi

According to

/etc/security/user

definitions file, you cannot set a password greater than 8 characters in length


* minlen Defines the minimum length of a password. The default is 0.
* Range: 0 to 8.
*
* Note: The minimum length of a password is determined by minlen and/or
* 'minalpha + minother', whichever is greater. 'minalpha + minother'
* should never be greater than 8. If 'minalpha + minother' is greater
* than 8, then minother is reduced to '8 - minalpha'.

You would need to explore whether different authentication methods via ldap or active directory support a greater password length to satisfy your requirements

HTH

Steve

[ScriptDaddy]

You cannot alter the maximum length of the AIX authentication. It's hard coded ... as you've already seen ... you can have passwords longer than 8 characters, but it will only use the first 8 characters as the password.

You could look to use SSH public and private keys ... these would allow passwords longer than 8 characters, you'd have to allow users to have 0-length passwords, with none expiry and disable the use of telnet (which should be done by default in my opinion).

I would however not recommend the use of 0-length and none expiry passwords as it removes a layer of security.

Ben

[alexisl]

Why would I have to allow 0-length passwords when I use public/private keys?