How to change the password under HP-UX

Typically, the system administrator assigns the first password to each account. It is best for the user to change the password to a password that they know only when they are first used. For security reasons, you should change your password frequently.

The password must contain at least 6 characters. At least two characters are letters, and one character must be a number or special character (such as a dash (-), an underscore (_), or an asterisk (*)) in the other 4 characters. The password cannot contain the user name, even if the user name is in reverse order (for example, if the user name is BIF, the password cannot contain fib).

Examples of valid passwords: Wild-life,!secret, and *fuzzy*.

When you log on to the system, you may see a message informing you that your password is about to expire. In this case, you must change the password:

To change the password from the command line shell prompt, you can use the passwd command to set or change the password. Please type:

passwd (1)

$ passwd Enter

You will be prompted to enter an old password. Then, you are prompted to enter a new password and reenter the new password for confirmation. The password to re-enter must be the same as the first time.

Keep in mind the password you use. For confidentiality purposes, please do not keep the password in the obvious place. If you forget your password, contact your system administrator, or log in as Superuser and use the SAM utility to set a new password.

Trusted Systems

On trusted systems, the password needs to be changed periodically. This is known as password expiration. In addition, there are usually three consecutive attempts to log on. If you are still unable to log on, you may not be able to log on again at this time. This may be because your workstation has been configured by your system administrator, and you will be denied logon for a certain period of time after several unsuccessful attempts to log on.