Passwords and logons

Login authentication validates against the system catalog. The 64-bit DES encryption converts passwords to alphanumeric characters.

As administrator, you can do the following to ensure security:

Specify a minimum password length. As database administrator, you can change the minimum password length from four characters to a maximum of 2048 bytes.
Limit the number of invalid login attempts.
By default, there is no limit to the number of times a user can attempt to log on to the system. As database administrator, you can set a limit on the number of invalid logon attempts and when the limit is reached have the system lock the account.

After the Netezza Performance Server system locks an account, you must manually unlock the account for the user to be able to access it again.
When users are locked out of their accounts, the system displays the same error message even if users enter the correct password.
```
nzsql: Password authentication failed for user 'bob'
```
Limit the authentication timeout for LDAP authentication.
Use the nzpassword command to create locally stored encrypted passwords. For more information, see Encrypted passwords.

The following information about passwords and logons applies regardless of the authentication method.