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Configuring Username and Password Security
Overview
To configure password security:
1. Set a Manager password pair (and an Operator password pair, if applicable
for your system).
2. Exit from the current console session. A Manager password pair will now
be needed for full access to the console.
If you do steps 1 and 2, above, then the next time a console session is started
for either the menu interface or the CLI, a prompt appears for a password.
Assuming you have protected both the Manager and Operator levels, the level
of access to the console interface will be determined by which password is
entered in response to the prompt.
If you set a Manager password, you may also want to configure the
Inactivity Time parameter. (Refer to the Management and Configuration
Guide for your switch.) This causes the console session to end after the
specified period of inactivity, thus giving you added security against unauthor-
ized console access.
Note The manager and operator passwords and (optional) usernames control
access to the menu interface, CLI, and web browser interface.
If you configure only a Manager password (with no Operator password), and
in a later session the Manager password is not entered correctly in response
to a prompt from the switch, then the switch does not allow management
access for that session.
Passwords are case-sensitive.
Caution If the switch has neither a Manager nor an Operator password, anyone
having access to the switch through either Telnet, the serial port, or the web
browser interface can access the switch with full manager privileges. Also,
if you configure only an Operator password, entering the Operator pass-
word enables full manager privileges.
The rest of this section covers how to:
■ Set passwords
■ Delete passwords
■ Recover from a lost password