Safeguard Authentication Services 6.0.1 - Administration Guide

UNIX users can change their Active Directory passwords using vastool or with PAM-enabled system password utilities such as passwd.

You can use vastool passwd to change your password or to reset another user's password.

1. To change your password:

   vastool passwd

   Follow the prompts to change your password.

2. To set another user's password:

   vastool -u <administrator> passwd <target user> 

   For example, to set the user bsmith's password using the administrative user Administrator@example.com:

   vastool -u Administrator@example.com passwd bsmith

   You must first authenticate as the administrative user, then you can specify a new password for bsmith.

On PAM-enabled systems you can use the system passwd command to change your Active Directory password.

1. Enter the following command:

   # passwd

   NOTE: On some systems such as HPUX and Oracle Solaris, the /bin/passwd command may not use PAM. In this case you may see output such as:

   passwd: Changing password for bsmith
   Supported configuration for passwd management are as follows:
     passwd: files
     passwd: files ldap
     passwd: files nis
     passwd: files nisplus
     passwd: compat
     passwd: compat AND
     passwd_compat: ldap OR
     passwd_compat: nisplus
     Please check your /etc/nsswitch.conf file Permission denied

   If you see this output, you must use the vastool passwd command to change your Active Directory password.

2. To change the password of a local user in the /etc/passwd file, run the following command:

   passwd -r files

   This instructs the system to change the local password directly rather than using PAM to change the password.

Safeguard Authentication Services provides a feature called "mapped user" where you can map local UNIX user accounts to Active Directory user accounts. Local users retain all of their local UNIX attributes such as UID Number and Login Shell, but they authenticate using their Active Directory password. Active Directory password policies are enforced. You can map users by editing configuration files on the UNIX host.

Advantages of mapped users:

• Provides a rapid deployment path to take advantage of Active Directory authentication

• Kerberos authentication provides stronger security

• Enables centralized access control

• Enforces Active Directory Password policies

• Provides a path for consolidating identities in Active Directory with Ownership Alignment Too (OAT)

• Low impact to existing applications and systems on the UNIX host

• Easy to deploy with self-enrollment

By mapping a local user to an Active Directory account, the user can log in with their UNIX user name and Active Directory password.