This page is for PhixFlow administrators to set up rules about user passwords. For related information, see the PhixFlow User Administration topic.
Overview
A password policy contains the rules about how secure a password must be and how often it should be changed. You can set rules for:
- the length of characters and the characters they must contain
- whether passwords can be reused after a time period or an intervening number of different passwords
- how long passwords can be used before they expire
- how many login attempts can be made before the account is locked
- resetting passwords.
PhixFlow applies a password policy to:
- all user accounts
- the encrypted files that PhixFlow exports to the download area; see Configuring the Download Area.
Before you create user accounts, it is a good idea to set up the password policy to have the rules your company requires. You can:
- either update the default password policy
- or to create one or more new password policies.
See Adding or Changing a Password Policy below.
If you are using PhixFlow's accounts to manage user access, users must log in to PhixFlow using the password set in their user properties; see User.
If you do not want to use PhixFlow's accounts to manage user access, but instead want to integrate PhixFlow with a single sign-on system, see:
See also pages in the User Administration topic.
The Default Password Policy
When it is first installed, PhixFlow has one password policy, called Default, which is used for both user and file export passwords; see Using a Different Password Policy, below. The default password policy requires a password to have at least 12 characters, including:
- 1 upper case character
- 1 lower case character
- 1 numeric value (from version 10.1 onwards)
- 1 special character
The other parameter of your default password policy will depend on which version of PhixFlow was initially installed. To see the Default password policy for your installation see Repository → Full Repository → Password Policies → Default
Adding or Changing a Password Policy
To create or change a password policy, in the repository scroll down to the 
Password Policies section. Double-click on an existing password policy to edit it. To create a new password policy, right-click Password Policies and click 
Create New.
If you create a different password policy, remember to update the System Configuration → Advanced → Password Policy or Export Password Policy to use it.
Using a Different Password Policy
To use a different password policy:
- In the repository, scroll to System Configuration and click to open it.
- Expand the Advanced section.
- Select the policy you require from the drop-down list in the options:
- Password Policy
- Export Password Policy
When you create a user account in PhixFlow, it automatically applies the password policies set in System Configuration at that time. If you subsequently update System Configuration to use a different password policy, existing user accounts are not updated. They will continue to use the previous password policy.
If you want some users to have a different password policy, you will need to update their User account properties:
- Basic Settings → Password Policy
- Export Password options.
Property Pane Toolbar
For information about the toolbar options, see the Common Properties page, Toolbars and Controls section.
Properties Tab
Basic Settings
Except for Minimum Length, an empty field means that PhixFlow does not apply a restriction.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | Enter a name for the password policy. |
| Passwords must have at least: | |
| Minimum Length | Specify the minimum number of characters required in a password. If this field is left empty, the minimum length is 1. |
| Upper Case Chars | Specify the minimum number of upper case characters [A-Z] required in a password. |
| Lower Case Chars | Specify the minimum number of lower case characters [a-z] required in a password. |
| Numeric Chars | Specify the minimum number of digits [0-9] required in a password. |
| Special Chars | Specify the minimum number of special characters required in a password. Allowed special characters are:
|
| A new password cannot be the same as: | |
| A password used in the last N days | A new password cannot be the same as a password used previously within this number of days. |
| Any of the last N passwords | A new password cannot be the same as any of this number of previous passwords. |
| Password expires after: | |
Days Valid | Enter the number of days for which the password is valid. For example, to configure a password that is valid for 6 months, enter The user is not warned that their password is due to expire. To provide the user with a warning and a period of time in which to change their password, set Days to Reset. |
| Days to Reset | Enter the number of days that the password continues to be valid, during which PhixFlow notifies the user that their password is due to expire. For example, to add an extra 2 weeks in which the user can continue to use their password, enter The Days to Reset starts when the Days Valid is exceeded. When the user logs in, PhixFlow displays a message telling them the number of days that remain before their password expires. If the user changes their password during the Days to Reset period, the number of Days Valid starts again. If the user does not change their password, when the Days to Reset is exceeded, the password expires. |
| Lock account after: | |
| Failed login attempts | The user's account will be locked after this number of unsuccessful login attempts. |
| Password reset: | |
| Allow Reset |
For PhixFlow versions pre-10.1, the user must answer a security question. For PhixFlow versions pre-10.1 only, users configure their security questions in their user properties; see User. To set the |
| Maximum reset attempts | The maximum number of attempts the user can make to reset their password. After this number of failed attempts, the user must contact their system administrator. |
| Reset links valid for | The link in a reset email is valid for this number of minutes. A link older than this will be rejected. If no value is set, reset links are valid indefinitely. |
Description
We recommend that you always enter a description to explain the purpose of this item.
Audit Tab
Audit Summary
See the Common Properties page, Audit Summary section.