Red Hat Security: Linux in Physical, Virtual, and Cloud

Instructions

1. Set the password policy on the serverc machine to require a password of at least 12 characters that include at least one symbol and one digit.

   1. Log in to the serverc machine as the student user. No password is required.

      [student@workstation ~]$ ssh student@serverc
      [student@serverc ~]$

   2. Use the sudo -i command to change to the root user. Use the student sudo password.

      [student@serverc ~]$ sudo -i
      [sudo] password for student: student
      [root@serverc ~]#

   3. Use a text editor to modify the /etc/security/pwquality.conf file to require a minimum password length of 12 characters, a minimum of one digit, and a minimum of one special character. Read through the options in the file to know what each line modifies. Uncomment and modify the lines to match the following output:

      minlen = 12
      dcredit = -1
      ocredit = -1

2. Verify that you meet the new requirements by setting the student user password to each of the following values:

   • alpha42numeric should not work (2 digits, 14 characters, but no symbol)

   • symbol+1digit should work (1 symbol, 1 digit, and 13 characters)

   1. Log out of the root account.

      [root@serverc ~]# logout
      [student@serverc ~]$

   2. Use the passwd command to set the password for the student user.

      [student@serverc ~]$ passwd
      Changing password for user student.
      Current password: student
      New password: alpha42numeric
      BAD PASSWORD: The password contains less than 1 non-alphanumeric characters
      passwd: Authentication token manipulation error
      [student@serverc ~]$ passwd
      Changing password for user student.
      Current password: student
      New password: symbol+1digit
      Retype new password: symbol+1digit
      passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.
      [student@serverc ~]$

   3. Use the sudo -i command to become the root user again, and change back the password for the student user to student. If the sudo command prompts for a password, then use the new one.

      [student@serverc ~]$ sudo -i
      [sudo] password for student: symbol+1digit
      [root@serverc ~]# passwd student
      Changing password for user student.
      New password: student
      BAD PASSWORD: The password contains less than 1 digits
      Retype new password: student
      passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.
      [root@serverc ~]#

   4. Return to the workstation machine.

      [root@serverc ~]# logout
      [student@serverc ~]$ logout
      [student@workstation ~]$