topic Each type of password is case in Network Security

changing netuser password for a net user with spaces in their name

jorgen.vehusheia — Fri, 21 Feb 2020 13:49:37 GMT

basically what it says on the tin. I need a way to change the password of a net user named (without quotes) "building house" (for example) via the command line interface. The command would, I guess, be

config netuser password <username> <password>

... which works fine, except I get an invalid input error when I try to change it for a user with spaces in their name. Options I have tried include:

config netuser password "building house" newpass
config netuser password building\ house newpass
config netuser password <building house> newpass (yea that was a long shot :P)

So, yes. How, if at all, can I do this? And if it's not possible then why are spaces in user names even allowed (okay, that's rhetorical, though if you actually know an answer I'd be interested...).

Each type of password is case

Mark Malone — Mon, 23 May 2016 15:28:03 GMT

Each type of password is case sensitive, can contain from 1 to 25 uppercase and lowercase alphanumeric characters, and can start with a numeral. Spaces are also valid password characters; for example, "two words" is a valid password. Leading spaces are ignored, but trailing spaces are recognized.

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/ios/iproute_bfd/configuration/guide/15_1/irb_15_1_book/usingios.html

what device are you on that you have this issue

The device claims to be a

jorgen.vehusheia — Mon, 23 May 2016 16:42:46 GMT

The device claims to be a Cisco 2500 Series Wireless Controller. I am attempting to make a script that logs on to it and changes user passwords, to be run each month. Problem is, one of the users I should change the password to has a space in its name (not password), and I can't find a way to change its password via the command line interface (through the web interface it's simple, but much harder/beyond my ability in the allotted time to script).

As a test on any of our

Mark Malone — Tue, 24 May 2016 07:24:34 GMT

As a test on any of our devices cant have username with spaces , i just checked ns-ox , ios-xe and ios cli devices all give back same when i try to add a space in the name looks like a restriction on usernames

LAB9(config)#usernam TEST MARK ?
% Unrecognized command
LAB9(config)#usernam TEST ?
access-class         Restrict access by access-class
autocommand          Automatically issue a command after the user logs in
callback-dialstring Callback dialstring
callback-line        Associate a specific line with this callback
callback-rotary      Associate a rotary group with this callback
dnis                 Do not require password when obtained via DNIS
nocallback-verify    Do not require authentication after callback
noescape             Prevent the user from using an escape character
nohangup             Do not disconnect after an automatic command
nopassword           No password is required for the user to log in
password             Specify the password for the user
privilege            Set user privilege level
secret               Specify the secret for the user
user-maxlinks        Limit the user's number of inbound links
view                 Set view name

Well... all I can really say

jorgen.vehusheia — Tue, 24 May 2016 07:50:19 GMT

Well... all I can really say to that is it is clearly possible on the device I have to have net user names with spaces in them, on account of the evidence that these users are there and work. The only problem I'm having is I can't change their passwords in the command line.

As a test, I tried creating such a user. This, too, I could not do in the command line interface, but it was a trivial matter to do it in the web interface that also exists when one connects to port 80.

Now... this is not my box. Had it been, I'd simply say "ok, no more netuser names with spaces in them", and it would all be easily solved. However, since I am a mere consulting programmer, what I will be forced to instead say is "the box you are using does not allow me to do what you want while you use netuser names with spaces in them". Which is also fine, but different.