NetWorker: How To Change the Password History Count for NetWorker Accounts

When attempting to reuse a password for a NetWorker account, you may receive the following error:

The password that you specified for user user_name was recently used, provide a different password

The default Password History Count is 8; however you can change this to a lesser value, including 0. The PasswordHistoryCount is stored in the NetWorker server's authentication (authc) service. Usually the NetWorker authentication server is the same host as the NetWorker server.

If multiple NetWorker Servers are managed by one NMC server, identify the NetWorker authc server used by the management console. On the NMC server, check the gstd.conf file for the authsvc_hostname.

• Windows: C:\Program Files\EMC NetWorker\Management\GST\etc\gstd.conf
• Linux: /opt/lgtonmc/etc/gstd.conf

[root@nmcserver ~]# cat /opt/lgtonmc/etc/gstd.conf | grep hostname
    string authsvc_hostname = "nsr.amer.lan";

To disable the history count, run the following commands on your NetWorker authc server:

authc_config -u Administrator -e add-option -D option-name=PasswordHistoryCount -D option-value=0 

The "Administrator" account being specified is the default NetWorker Administrator account. You are prompted for the password for this account after entering the command.

Example:

[root@nsr ~]# authc_config -u Administrator -e add-option -D option-name=PasswordHistoryCount -D option-value=0
Enter password:
Option PasswordHistoryCount is created successfully.

[root@nsr ~]# authc_config -u Administrator -e find-all-options
Enter password:
The query returns 1 records.
Option Id Name
1         PasswordHistoryCount

[root@nsr ~]# authc_config -u Administrator -e find-option -D option-id=1
Enter password:
Option Id: 1
Name     : PasswordHistoryCount
Value    : 0

Once the password history is disabled, you can update the password for that user from the NMC using the previously used password.

• NetWorker: How to reset the Administrator password
• NetWorker: How to disable password expiration for NetWorker accounts
• NetWorker: How to change the minimum character requirements for NetWorker user passwords

For more information, see the NetWorker Security Configuration Guide available on Dell Support.