Itanium® Architecture for Programmers: Understanding 64-Bit Processors and EPIC Principles

Security

Because users most often connect to HP-UX and Linux systems over networks, the managers of those systems generally exercise considerable care about security. They may require that passwords avoid certain obvious patterns and be changed at periodic intervals. The passwd command will lead you through the process of changing your password:

> passwd
Changing password for  username
Old password: ********              (enter your old password)
New password: ********                 (enter a new password)
Re-enter new password: ********   (re-enter the new password)
Password successfully changed
>

A good password always contains a mixture of numerals and both upper- and lowercase characters.

Since some older connection methods, like telnet and rlogin, transmit the plain-text ...