On Wed, 26 Jan 2000, you wrote:
> Harondel J. Sibble wrote:
>
> > > (curious) what methods
> > > people use to keep the password list from growing out of hand. Also
> > > especially when you are admining/maintaining a network of co-located
> > > machines. Do you use say a few passwords that are randomly distributed
> > > between machines, a different password for each machine, or what.
> > >
> Phil Edwards replied:
>
> > Although I can't claim to know a great deal about it, the usual solution in
> > cases like this is to designate one of your machines as an NIS server
>
> I think the low-tech method is best. Get too fancy, NIS, rsync
> and other stuff, and if something breaks, it all falls down like
> a string of dominoes. I think that passwords should be kept in
> one of three places: your head, a 3x5 card in the safe, or a
> laminated card in your wallet.
>
> It also helps if YOUR non-root accounts, regardless of the
> username
> have the same password. YOu may wish to have the root passwords
> all the same, or follow some scheme that is obvious only to you.
> Howver, all this is moot if you have a wallet-size card.
>
What really helps is if you use a small number of passwords
for all machines (one to three) using SSH... and limit
allowed ssh connections to a few specific machines. :-)
Then, you really only need to know a couple or three
passwords. :-)
John
