There are a few times that you will want to change your password.

1. You are a new user, and you can't stand the randomly-generated password that the IT staff has assigned to you.
2. You are security-conscious and change your passwords regularly, whether they need it or not.
3. You suspect that the password you have used in the past may be too easy to guess or may have already been discovered.

Whatever the reason, changing your password is easy as pie.

A strong password is important. Passwords should:

• Be at least eight characters in length or longer
• Contain upper- and lower-case characters
• Contain at least one number or symbol
• Does not contain any string (or substring) of characters that can be found in a dictionary or on a search engine
• Be easy enough to remember that you don't need to write it down
• Be unique to each system; do not re-use the same password here at NIMBioS that you use somewhere else

WARNING: To date these rules are not strictly enforced, however we have had incidents in the past where users with weak passwords had their accounts broken into. Let's be clear about this: Since NIMBioS is hosted by a university, we see hacking attempts no less than three times daily, every day, 365 days a year. A GOOD, STRONG PASSWORD IS CRITICAL!

Some tips on creating strong passwords:

• Randomly replace letters with numbers or symbols
• Pick a sentence or verse of a song and take every first letter (or every 2nd, or every last, etc.)
• Take a word and reverse it
• EVEN BETTER: Use multiple tactics from above, and make up your own tactics to add

For example:

There are also a number of password generators online:

• http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=rstrong+random+password+generator

• http://strongpasswordgenerator.com/

Or you can use the random-string command from a terminal window.

Q: But a “strong” password is too hard to remember!

A: The IT staff use difficult passwords all the time that have been lovingly crafted by the best in completely heartless random number generators. They are very strong, and very hard to remember. Our secret is a little thing called muscle memory. Type the password over and over again, several times a day, until typing it becomes automatic. After a while, your fingers will just magically know what buttons to press.

If you are using a terminal or a login shell, or if you are logging in via SSH, then you can change your password with the passwd command. The passwd program will first prompt you for your current password (“Enter login(LDAP) password”), and then it will prompt you for your new password twice (“New password”, followed by “Re-enter new password”). You will not be shown the keys that you press as you type your password. This is normal, it's to prevent anyone looking over your shoulder from knowing your current or new password.

Example:

$ passwd
Enter login(LDAP) password: 
New password: 
Re-enter new password: 
LDAP password information changed for goober1
passwd: password updated successfully

If you see “password updated successfully” then congratulations, you have just changed your password. If you do not see “password updated successfully”, then something has gone wrong. Try again, or contact the IT staff for assistance.

If you are sitting at a NIMBioS workstation and you are logged in, then you can change your password by:

1. Open the dash, and type “user” into the search bar
2. Click “User Accounts”
3. Click on the dots following “Password”
4. Enter your current password, and press return
5. Enter your new password twice, and then click “Change”
   You should see the text “Your password has been changed.” If you don't, then try again or contact the IT staff for assistance.

Should you forget your password the IT staff can reset it password for you upon request.