User name and password requirements

This information helps you create valid user names and passwords for IBM Spectrum® Control and understand any special character restrictions.

Table 1 lists the user names and passwords that are used with IBM Spectrum Control and specifies the following criteria:
  • User names must be local or a Windows™ domain account or an LDAP account
    Restriction: If you use LDAP, IBM Spectrum Control must be configured for LDAP authentication.
  • Valid user name characters must comply with the minimum and maximum length requirements
  • Valid password characters must comply with the minimum and maximum length requirements
Restriction: If the IBM Spectrum Control common user name is the same as the IBM Spectrum Control Db2® user name (for example, if you did not use a custom Db2 user name to install IBM Spectrum Control), the corresponding password must be valid as a Db2 password and as a WebSphere® Liberty password. For more information about valid Db2 and WebSphere Liberty passwords, see Table 1. This restriction applies during a IBM Spectrum Control installation and when you use the IBM Spectrum Control change password tool.
For more information about setting passwords on the Windows operating system, see the see the Microsoft™ Windows Dev Center - Desktop website at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms675092%28v=vs.85%29.aspx. Search for the SAM-Account-Name attribute.
Table 1. Valid characters for user names and passwords
User name and password for Windows domain OK? LDAP OK? Valid characters
IBM Spectrum Control installation Yes No Not applicable
IBM Spectrum Control common user Yes
Restriction: You must follow these naming conventions:
  • Windows domain user name: domain_name\user_name format
  • Local user name: machine_name\username format
 No
  • A through Z (uppercase characters)
  • a through z (lowercase characters)
  • 0 through 9 (numeric characters)
  • Special characters: '_' and '~'
Restriction: The user name cannot contain spaces, $ and ! signs, must have at least 1 character and must not start with a number or underscore. On Windows operating systems, the only valid special characters are `, ˜, #, %, ˆ, (, ), -, _, {, }, ', and .
IBM Spectrum Control common user passwords Yes Yes
  • A through Z (uppercase characters)
  • a through z (lowercase characters)
  • 0 through 9 (numeric characters)
  • Special characters: [, ], ?, `, ˜, !, (, ), -, _, *, %, +, and .
Restriction: Passwords cannot contain spaces, must have at least 1 character and must not start with a number, dash character {-}, or underscore.
Db2 administrator, Db2 user Yes
Restriction: You must follow these naming conventions:
  • Windows domain user name: domain_name\user_name format
  • Local user name: machine_name\username format
 Yes
  • A through Z (uppercase characters)
  • a through z (lowercase characters)
  • 0 through 9 (numeric characters)
  • Special characters: ˜, @, #, %, ˆ, -, ( ),_, { }".
Restriction: User names and passwords cannot contain spaces and must have at least 1 character. User names also must not start with a number or underscore
Db2 passwords Yes Yes
  • A through Z (uppercase characters)
  • a through z (lowercase characters)
  • 0 through 9 (numeric characters)
  • Special characters: $, ~, @, #, (, ), -, _, {, }, [, ], ?, *, %, +, and .
Restriction: Passwords cannot contain spaces, must have at least 1 character and must not start with a number or underscore.
NAS Filer user name No No
  • A through Z (uppercase characters)
  • a through z (lowercase characters)
  • 0 through 9 (numeric characters)
  • Special characters: ` ~ # % ^ & ( ) - _ { } ' .
Restriction: User names and passwords cannot contain spaces and must have at least 1 character.
NAS Filer password No No
  • A through Z (uppercase characters)
  • a through z (lowercase characters)
  • 0 through 9 (numeric characters)
  • Special characters: ` ~ @ # % ^ & * ( ) - _ = + [ ] { } \ | ; : ' " , . < > / ?
Restriction: User names and passwords cannot contain spaces and must have at least 1 character.
Password and name restrictions for monitored resources:
  • Cisco switches: The password that IBM Spectrum Control uses to connect to a Cisco switch can't contain these special characters: < >.
  • XIV® storage systems: The password that IBM Spectrum Control uses to connect to an XIV storage system can't contain this special character: &.
  • When you add a resource for monitoring, you must enter a user name and password that is used to connect to that resource. In rare cases, special characters in the user name or password might not be allowed by IBM Spectrum Control. If you can't add a resource for monitoring because of restricted characters, try changing its credentials and adding it again. Then, open a ticket for the character limitation so that it can be addressed in a future update.
  • Performance metadata can't be collected about a device that includes a forward slash (/) or backslash (\) in its name. Before you add a device for monitoring, remove any slashes in its name.