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NetBackup and Veritas Appliances Hardening Guide

Last Published: 2025-04-17

Product(s): Appliances (11.0, 8.4, 6.0, 5.5.0.1, 3.5), NetBackup & Alta Data Protection (11.0, 8.4, 6.0, 5.5.0.1, 3.5)

Platform: Veritas 3340,Veritas 3350,Veritas 3360,Flex Appliance OS,NetBackup Appliance OS,NetBackup Flex Scale OS

Managing the password policy using the UI

You can customize the password policies by setting rules for the passwords that are used by the Access Appliance local users. You can set rules for password complexity, password age, and password lockout. Password complexity specifies the number and type of characters a password must include. Password age defines the duration for which the password is valid. Password lockout specifies the number of failed attempts because of incorrect usage of passwords after which a user is prevented from logging in to the account.

The default password policy for a local user is as follows:

Password complexity:

Minimum characters: 8
Minimum numbers: 1
Minimum lowercase characters: 1
Minimum uppercase characters: 1
Minimum special characters: 1

To change the password policy:

Log in to the web interface of a configured Access Appliance cluster by opening a supported browser and typing:
http://console-ip:14161
where console-ip is the management console IP address where the web interface is hosted.
In the left navigation pane, click Settings and then click User management.
Click Manage password policy.
On the Manage password policy page, click Edit.
If you want your password policy to comply with STIG, select Reset to STIG default values to fill in the default values for all the parameters.
Selecting this option enforces a higher security password policy.
Edit the parameters as required. To ignore a rule, leave the corresponding parameter blank. After making the changes click Save.

Table:

Parameter	Description
Minimum characters	Minimum number of characters to include in a password
Minimum uppercase characters	Minimum number of uppercase characters to include in a password
Maximum repetitive characters of the same class	Maximum number of consecutive uppercase, lowercase, numeric, and special characters
Minimum numbers	Minimum number of numeric characters
Minimum special characters	Minimum number of special characters in a password
Minimum character classes	Minimum character classes to include in a password. Character classes include uppercase, lowercase, numeric, and special characters.
Minimum lowercase characters	Minimum number of lowercase characters
Maximum repetitive characters	Maximum number of characters that can be repeated in a password.
Character difference with old password	Number of characters the new password must differ by from the previous password
Days after which password can be changed	Number of days after which a password can be changed
Days after which password must be changed	Number of days after which a password must be changed
Days before warning message	Number of days before the password expires to display a warning
Minimum different passwords before allowing reuse	Number of unique passwords before a previous password can be reused
Number of incorrect login attempts before lockout	Number of failed login attempts after which the account gets locked From version 8.2, when you enable STIG or set the password policy, the SSH session is terminated each time you enter an incorrect password. You must open a new SSH session to log on. Previously, the SSH session was terminated only after the total number of failed attempts was reached.
Time before locked account is reenabled	Duration in seconds the account remains locked
Time between login failures before account lockout	Number of seconds between consecutive failed login attempts

To change the maintenance user password

Login to GUI with maintenance user credentials.
Select the Change password option.
Enter the new password. Click Save.

To modify the password policy irrespective of the STIG setting

Login to GUI with appliance administrator credentials.
Navigate to Settings > User Management. Select Manage password policy.
Edit the settings and click Save.
If you do not want a password expiry date, edit the Days after which password must be changed field and leave it empty. Click Save to save your changes.