sp_passwordpolicy

Description

An interface that a user with sso_role can use to configure password complexity options. This information is stored in the master.dbo.sysattributes table.

Syntax

To specify, remove, and list new password complexity options:

sp_passwordpolicy {“set” | “clear” | “list”}, policy_option, option_value

To generate asymmetric key pairs for network login password encryption:

sp_passwordpolicy "enable last login updates"
sp_passwordpolicy "expire role passwords", "[rolename | wildcard]"
sp_passwordpolicy "expire login passwords", "[login_name | wildcard]"
sp_passwordpolicy "expire stale role passwords", "datetime"
sp_passwordpolicy "expire stale login passwords", "datetime"
sp_passwordpolicy "regenerate keypair"

Parameters

set

sets a value to an option. When using set, you must specify the policy_option.

clear

deletes the row for the option specified in the master.dbo.sysattributes table. If there is no policy option specified, clear deletes all the option rows in the sysattributes table. When using clear, you must specify the policy_option.

list

lists the values of the options specified. When using list, you must specify the policy_option.

policy_option, option_value

is the option parameter for set, clear, and list, with option_value being the their values:

Option

Description

allow password downgrade

Ends the password downgrade period. During the password downgrade period, passwords are stored in syslogins in both old and new encodings to allow user passwords to retained if the server is downgraded, for example, to Adaptive Server 15.0.2.

disallow simple passwords

Value of 1 turns this option on, and a value of 0 turns it off.

min digits in password

Indicates the minimum number of digits to be allowed in a password.

min alpha in password

Indicates the minimum number of alphabetic characters in a password.

min special char in password

Indicates the minimum number of special characters allowed in a password.

min upper char in password

Indicates the minimum number of upper-case characters allowed in a password

min lower char in password

Indicates the minimum number of lower case characters allowed in a password.

systemwide password expiration

Indicates the system-wide password expiration in days.

password exp warn interval

Indicates the password expiration warning interval in days.

minimum password length

Sets the minimum length of the password.

maximum failed logins

Sets the maximum number of failed logins allowed in a session before the account is locked.

expire login

Specifies that a login status changes to expired status when you create or reset your login. You are required to change your password on your first login.

"enable last login updates"

enables or disables code in Adaptive Server authentication that records the timestamp when each login occurs.The first parameter “set” sets the value of this attribute.The parameter “list” displays the current value of the attribute, and the parameter "clear" deletes the row from sysattributes. On upgrade or new installation, this attribute does not exist in sysattributes. The login timestamp occurs when the attribute row does not exist or has a value of 1. The login timestamp is not maintained if the attribute value is 0.

“expire login passwords", "[login_name | wildcard]"

expires login passwords, all logins or logins matching a wild card pattern. The column status in master database catalog syslogins is updated with a status bit LOGIN_EXPIRED (0x4) to indicate the password is expired.

"expire role passwords", "[rolename | wildcard]"

expires the password of a role, all roles or roles matching a wild-card pattern. The column status in master database catalog syssrvroles is updated with a status bit ROLE_EXPIRED (0x4) to indicate the password is expired:

"expire stale login passwords", "datetime"

expires login passwords have not been changed after a datetime specified. The column status in master database catalog syslogins is updated with a status bit LOGIN_EXPIRED (0x0004) to indicate that the password is expired. See “Entering Date and Time Data” in Adaptive Server 15.0 Reference Manual: Building Blocks, Chapter 1, “System and User Defined Datatypes” for an explanation of how datetime values are entered.

"expire stale role passwords", "datetime"

expires role passwords have not been changed after a datetime specified. The column status in master database catalog syssrvroles is updated with a status bit ROLE_EXPIRED (0x4) to indicate the password is expired.

"regenerate keypair"

generates the asymmetric key pairs to be used for network login password encryption.There is no catalog update for this option; the actions occur only in memory fields.

Examples

Example 1

Sets a password expiration warning interval to seven days before the password expires:

sp_passwordpolicy 'set', 
      'password exp warn interval', 7

Example 2

Lists the option for minimum number of special characters:

sp_passwordpolicy 'list', 
      'min special char in password'

Example 3

Resets disallow simple passwords to the default value:

sp_passwordpolicy 'clear', 'disallow simple passwords'

Usage

Auditing

The set and clear commands in sp_passwordpolicy are audited through audit event 115, “Password Administration.”

A audit option “password” audits these actions.