Supported Platforms
Related Documentation
- ACX, EX, M, MX, PTX, QFX, T Series
- Changing the Requirements for Junos OS Plain-Text Passwords
- ACX, M, MX, PTX, T Series
- Configuring the Root Password
- QFX Series
- Changing the Requirements for Junos OS Plain-Text Passwords
- Configuring the Root Password
Special Requirements for Junos OS Plain-Text Passwords
Junos OS has special requirements when you create plain-text passwords on a router or switch. Table 1 shows the default requirements.
Table 1: Special Requirements for Plain-Text Passwords
Junos OS | Junos-FIPS |
---|---|
The password must be between 6 and 128 characters long. | FIPS passwords must be between 10 and 20 characters long |
You can include most character classes in a password (uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and other special characters). Control characters are not recommended. | You can include most character classes in a password (uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and other special characters). Control characters are not recommended. |
Valid passwords must contain at least one change of case or character class. | Passwords must use at least three of the five defined character classes (uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and other special characters). |
You can change the requirements for plain-text passwords.
Junos OS supports the following five character classes for plain-text passwords:
- Lowercase letters
- Uppercase letters
- Numbers
- Punctuation
- Special characters: ! @ # $ % ^ & * , +< > : ;
Control characters are not recommended.
You can include the plain-text-password statement at the following hierarchy levels:
- [edit system diag-port-authentication]
- [edit system pic-console-authentication]
- [edit system root-authentication]
- [edit system login user username authentication]
The change-type statement specifies whether the password is checked for the following:
- The total number of character sets used (character-set)
- The total number of character set changes (set-transitions)
For example, the following password:
MyPassWd@2has four character sets (uppercase letters, lowercase letters, special characters, and numbers) and seven character set changes (M–y, y–P, P–a, s–W, W–d, d–@, and @–2).
The change-type statement is optional. If you omit the change-type option, Junos-FIPS plain-text passwords are checked for character sets, and Junos OS plain-text passwords are checked for character set changes.
The minimum-changes statement specifies how many character sets or character set changes are required for the password. This statement is optional. If you do not use the minimum-changes statement, character sets are not checked for Junos OS. If the change-type statement is configured for the character-set option, then the minimum-changes value must be 5 or less, because Junos OS only supports five character sets.
The format statement specifies the hash algorithm (md5, sha1 or des) for authenticating plain-text passwords. This statement is optional. For Junos OS, the default format is md5. For Junos-FIPS, only sha1 is supported.
The maximum-length statement specifies the maximum number of characters allowed in a password. This statement is optional. By default, Junos OS passwords have no maximum; however, only the first 128 characters are significant. Junos-FIPS passwords must be 20 characters or less. The range for Junos OS maximum-length passwords is from 20 to 128 characters.
The minimum-length statement specifies the minimum number of characters required for a password. This statement is optional. By default, Junos OS passwords must be at least 6 characters long, and Junos-FIPS passwords must be at least 10 characters long. The range is from 6 to 20 characters.
Changes to password requirements do not take effect until the configuration is committed. When requirements change, only newly created, plain-text passwords are checked; existing passwords are not checked against the new requirements.
The default configuration for Junos OS plain-text passwords is:
[edit system login]passwords {change-type character-sets;format md5;minimum-changes 1;minimum-length 6;}The default configuration for Junos-FIPS plain-text passwords is:
[edit system login]passwords {change-type set-transitions;format sha1;maximum-length 20;minimum-changes 3;minimum-length 10;}
Related Documentation
- ACX, EX, M, MX, PTX, QFX, T Series
- Changing the Requirements for Junos OS Plain-Text Passwords
- ACX, M, MX, PTX, T Series
- Configuring the Root Password
- QFX Series
- Changing the Requirements for Junos OS Plain-Text Passwords
- Configuring the Root Password
Published: 2013-08-15
Supported Platforms
Related Documentation
- ACX, EX, M, MX, PTX, QFX, T Series
- Changing the Requirements for Junos OS Plain-Text Passwords
- ACX, M, MX, PTX, T Series
- Configuring the Root Password
- QFX Series
- Changing the Requirements for Junos OS Plain-Text Passwords
- Configuring the Root Password