* Password management tools available at Novell's Cool Tools Web site
When Novell first put Lightweight Directory Access Protocol support into eDirectory, lots of network managers, script writers, Web masters and code warriors jumped at the opportunity to use the rock-solid Novell directory service as the authentication mechanism for what they were doing. Some even saw it as an opportunity to give better connectivity to their NetWare servers from non-Wintel platforms. (Wake up, Mac users, this one’s for you!)
One of the few drawbacks was that there seemed to be no way to tell users that their password was about to expire and that they should change it as soon as possible. Typically, they’d only find out after the expiration occurred and, of course, they were no longer able to login in order to change it. One more password reset call to the help desk, then.
Now, thanks to some work by Randy Saeks, a support tech at Glenbrook North High School in Glenbrook, Ill., there’s a way to let people know it’s time to change their password.
Saeks is providing a script for checking the number of grace logins left, as well as an application (for Mac OS X) that incorporates it. You can download the package from Novell’s Cool Tools Web site (see https://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/tools/downloads/archive.zip ).
While we’re on the subject of passwords and changes, there are two other user-contributed tools you should also consider.
Changepass allows you to give password-changing privileges to ordinary users within strictly defined containers without the need to use ConsoleOne, NWAdmin or a Web-based solution. They can also be given the ability to reset grace logins. This latest version (No. 6, if you’re counting) from Thomas Lok includes a neat redirector that ensures you’re always using the latest versions of the Novell library files. Check it out at https://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/tools/downloads/changepass_v6.zip .
Lok has another tool available from the Cool Tools site, called the Multi Password Changer, which allows for mass changes of user passwords (i.e., multiple users at one time) within a single container (https://www.novell.com/coolsolutions/tools/downloads/multi_password_changer.zip ). This would be a real boon to those with a large turnover in a short time frame (e.g., schools).
In some security circles, the thought is that passwords are obsolete and other authentication methods need to be used. But while we still have passwords, tools that make them easier to use, change and administer are welcome in the network manager’s bag of tricks.
