How to edit default security file

[rajesh73]

We have received the request to change the password policy ,like password age, password Max days, password length.

What is the procedure to edit /etc/default/security. After change we need to restart any services ?..

[Bill Hassell]

The security file (/etc/default/security) has existed for many versions of HP-UX and is very badly documented in each release. Also, mistakes in the file, setting options that don't apply to your version, or lines with # anywhere on the line are ignored without comment. The only doc for this file is the man page: security

If you don't have your system setup as a Trusted System, that will be your first task. The majority of the security options are active for Trusted Systems. To see if your system is Trusted, do this:

# ls -ld /tcb

If the /tcb directory is not there, your system is not trusted.

Here is a heavily commented security file that you can use as a starting point:

# Security file: /etc/default/security -- 11.00 and higher only
# Note: the contents of the security file are only meaningful
#       at specific versions of HP-UX and security patches.
#       And at 11.23 2005, a product called
#            "Standard Mode Security Extensions"
#       was created and adds additional security features to a non-Trusted
#       system. So the only accurate documentation as to the working options
#       in the security is: man security

# Comments (#) allowed only on separate line,
#    trailing or imbedded # signs will invalidate the line
###########################################################

# NOLOGIN=1 will enable the no logins allowed policy.
# This prevents *ANY* non-root user from logging in when the file
#   /etc/nologin
# exists.  This file can be anything (including null) but will
# be displayed before auto-logoff. Typically, a message about
# system maintenance is stored there:
#
# SYSTEM ABC IS DOWN FOR MAINTENENCE, BACK at 11am
#
# Remove the file for normal logins.

NOLOGIN=1
NUMBER_OF_LOGINS_ALLOWED=0
ABORT_LOGIN_ON_MISSING_HOMEDIR=0

# Single user mode authorization (11i and non-trusted only)
###########################################################
# Requires root password to get into single user mode (CAREFUL)
#     BOOT_AUTH=1

# Users (besides root) that can boot into single user mode
#     BOOT_USERS=bill,jane,joe

# Password controls - Trusted Systems only
###################

MIN_PASSWORD_LENGTH=6
PASSWORD_HISTORY_DEPTH=1
PASSWORD_MIN_UPPER_CASE_CHARS=0
PASSWORD_MIN_LOWER_CASE_CHARS=0
PASSWORD_MIN_DIGIT_CHARS=0
PASSWORD_MIN_SPECIAL_CHARS=0

# Non-Trusted or shadow password setup only:
# defaults: MAXDAYS=-1 MINDAYS=0 WARNDAYS=0

#    PASSWORD_MAXDAYS=120
#    PASSWORD_MINDAYS=7
#    PASSWORD_WARNDAYS=7

# Session controls
##################

UMASK=022

## SU_ROOT_GROUP=suroot
## SU_DEFAULT_PATH=/usr/bin:/usr/contrib/bin:
#    SU_KEEP_ENV_VARS=LD_LIBRARY_PATH,SHLIB_PATH,LD_PRELOAD