HPUX UserID Length Limit

[Dan Matlock_1]

Dumb question I know, but is there a 8 chara. limit on userids on HP-UX?
I have a request for a userid of 11 chara., is there a way to do this?
Problem is that they have done this on linux and now want to do same on HP-UX.

[Hai Nguyen_1]

Dan,

I do not think that HP-UX user id is limited by 8 characters. However, there are some characters you may not use in creating user IDs I believe. Hai

[Pete Randall]

Dan,

It depends on which version of HP-UX we're talking about. 11.11 is 8 characters, period while 11.31 can be more, though you may have to install an additional feature. I'm not sure about 11.23.


Pete

[Pete Randall]

I would also add that, even if you have 11.31, you may well run into compatibility issues interfacing with either earlier versions or various applications.


Pete

[Dan Matlock_1]

Am running HP-UX 11.23 and when i try a userid of 11 it fails, when I shorten it to 8 it works.
Wondering if there is a way to override this limit?

[Pete Randall · Accepted solution]

The "man 4 passwd" page for 11.23 says:

The following fields have size limitations as noted:

· Login name field can be no longer than 8 characters;

So, it's only 11.31 that extends the limit - sorry.


Pete

[A. Clay Stephenson]

... and even on versions that support/allow this, it should be avoided because there is still tons of code that assume that the login field will never exceed 8 characters plus a terminating NUL. It's difficult to change standards that have been in place for literally decades without causing unanticipated problems. Unless you have a very compelling reason, I would stay with the 8 character limit.

[Dan Matlock_1]

thanks i figured there was a limit, but was hoping there might be a trick to override it for 1 userid.

[Dennis Handly]

You might want to look at these threads:
http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=1162403
http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=1145998