Trusted System, modprpw and 11i

[Glenn L. Stewart]

Hi All,

Currently moving to a Trusted System for two main reasons:

1. Password Shadowing
2. Password Aging combined with additional password options (i.e. ability to have more than 8 chars in password).

I investigated these options using SAM, aligning these with company requirements.

Monitoring the SAM log, I figured out the syntax to the commands: modprpw, modprdef

I couldn't man the commands, but found information on
http://aa11.cjb.net/hpux_admin/1998/0087.html

(NOTE: Was there on Friday, but I can no longer location the page. Search for "Trusted System questions" on google, and you can view the cached version)

This particular page noted the following disclaimer:


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Please note that these are undocumented and unsupported commands, and
not supported for direct use by end users. The documentation has been
gathered from multiple sources, inferred or developed empirically. No
warranty is provided for its accuracy, completeness or use.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well the commands do work, and a much better way to do mass changes to users without having to use SAM.

BUT

Most of our systems will be 11i when this change is implemented.

I noted the following itrc post, saying that the command will not longer exist in 11i

http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0xa9b03a7b3682d611abdb0090277a778c,00.html

If so, what are the best commands to use (and noting that the above commands are originally unsupported) what commands may be used.

Thanks

Glenn

[Michael Tully]

You can a copy of the man pages from here: There is also some interesting comments as well.

http://forums.itrc.hp.com/cm/QuestionAnswer/1,,0xe505a22d6d27d5118fef0090279cd0f9,00.html

[Fragon]

I got it before from itrc forum. Hope to be useful to you!

-Gerald-

[Bill Hassell · Accepted solution]

Actually, the man pages for modprpw and getprpw are part of 11i (the first version to document these backend commands). You can see the official man pages at http://docs.hp.com -- just search for the command.

A note about support: /usr/lbin is a backend directory, which is a fancy way of describing internal-use commands. These commands are subject to change at any time which is why they don't have man pages. For instance, in earlier versions, modprpw had a -w option for password but is now missing at 11i.

The presence of man pages for 11i indicates stability and so far, all my experience with modprpw/getprpw indicates it should be useable for 11i and earlier. But as with all backend commands, check the release notes for the version of HP-UX.