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ADC
14.1 - Current Release 13.1 13.0 12.1
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User account and password management

January 10, 2024
Contributed by: 
H C

NetScaler enables you to manage user accounts and password configuration. Following are some of the activities that you can perform using a system user account or nsroot administrative user account.

  • System user account lockout
  • Lock system user account for management access
  • Unlock a locked system user account for management access
  • Disable management access for system user account
  • Notify users for nsroot password change
  • Force password change for nsroot administrative users
  • Remove sensitive files in a system user account
  • Strong password configuration for system users

System user account lockout

To prevent brute force security attacks, you can configure the user lockout configuration. The configuration enables a network administrator to prevent a system user to log on to NetScaler. Also, unlock the user account before the lock period expires.

To get the details of the unsuccessful user login attempts across reboots, the persistentLoginAttemptsparameter can be enabled.

At the command prompt, type:

set aaa parameter -maxloginAttempts <value> -failedLoginTimeout <value> -persistentLoginAttempts (ENABLED | DISABLED)

Example:

set aaa parameter -maxloginAttempts 3 -failedLoginTimeout 10 -persistentLoginAttempts ENABLED

Note:

For the aaa.user.login_attempts expression to take effect, you must disable the “Persistent Login Attempts” parameter.

Run the unset aaa parameter -persistentLoginAttempts command to disable (if enabled) the persistent login attempts.

For details about the login attempt functionality, see Support to retrieve current login attempts for a user.

The following show command output displays the configuration status of the authentication, authorization, and auditing parameters:

show aaaparameter

Configured AAA parameters

EnableStaticPageCaching: YES

EnableEnhancedAuthFeedback: NO

DefaultAuthType: LOCAL MaxAAAUsers: Unlimited

AAAD nat ip: None

EnableSessionStickiness : NO

aaaSessionLoglevel: INFORMATIONAL

AAAD Log Level: INFORMATIONAL

...

Persistent Login Attempts: DISABLED

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Configure system user account lockout by using the GUI

  1. Navigate to Configuration > Security > AAA-Application Traffic > Authentication Settings > Change authentication AAA Settings.

  2. In the Configure AAA Parameter page, set the following parameters:

    1. Max Login Attempts. The maximum number of logon attempts allowed for the user to try.
    2. Failed Login Timeout. The maximum number of invalid logon attempts by the user.
    3. Persistent Login Attempts. Persistent storage of unsuccessful user login attempts across reboots.

  3. Click OK.

    GUI configuration for system user account lockout

When you set the parameters, the user account gets locked for 10 minutes for three or more invalid login attempts. Also, the user cannot log on even with valid credentials for 10 minutes.

Note

If a locked user tries to log on to NetScaler, an error message, RBA Authentication Failure: maxlogin attempt reached for test. appears.

Lock system user account for management access

NetScaler enables you to lock a system user for 24 hours and deny access to the user.

NetScaler supports the configuration for both system user and external users.

Note

The feature is supported only if you disable the persistentLoginAttempts option in the aaa parameter.

At the command prompt type:

set aaa parameter –persistentLoginAttempts DISABLED

Now, to lock a user account, at the command prompt, type:

lock aaa user test

Lock a system user account by using the GUI

  1. Navigate to Configuration > Security > AAA-Application Traffic > Authentication Settings > Change authentication AAA Settings.
  2. In Configure AAA Parameter, in the Persistent Login Attempts list, select DISABLED.
  3. Navigate to System > User Administration > Users.
  4. Select a user.

  5. In the Select Action list, select Lock.

    Select lock option

Note

The NetScaler GUI does not have an option to lock external users. To lock an external user, the ADC administrator must use the CLI. When a locked system user (locked with lock authentication, authorization, and auditing user command) attempts to log in to NetScaler, an error message, “RBA Authentication Failure: User test is locked down for 24 hours.” appears.

When a user is locked to log on to management access, console access is exempted. The locked user is able to log on to the console.

Unlock a locked system user account for management access

System users and external users can be locked for 24 hours using the lock authentication, authorization, and auditing user command.

Note

NetScaler allows admins to unlock the locked user and the feature does not require any settings in “persistentloginAttempts” command.

At the command prompt, type:

unlock aaa user test

Configure system user unlock by using the GUI

  1. Navigate to System > User Administration > Users.
  2. Select a user.

  3. Click Unlock.

    Configure system user unlock

The NetScaler GUI only lists system users created in the ADC, so there is no option in the GUI to unlock external users. To unlock an external user, the nsroot administrator must use the CLI.

Disable management access for system user account

When external authentication is configured on NetScaler and as an admin, if you prefer to deny access to system users to log on to management access, you must disable the localAuth option in the system parameter.

At the command prompt, type the following:

set system parameter localAuth <ENABLED|DISABLED>

Example:

set system parameter localAuth DISABLED

Disable management access to system user by using the GUI

  1. Navigate to Configuration > System > Settings > Change Global System Settings.
  2. In Command Line Interface (CLI) section, unselect the Local Authentication checkbox.

By disabling the option, local system users cannot log on to ADC management access.

Note

External authentication server must be configured and reachable to disallow local system user authentication in the system parameter. If external server configured in ADC for management access is unreachable, local system users can log on to NetScaler. The behavior is set up for recovery purpose.

Notify users for nsroot password change

For enhanced security, we recommend you to change the nsroot password frequently. You are notified for a password change before it expires.

You can set notification for your nsroot password change either from the CLI or GUI.

At the command prompt, type:

set system parameter -daystoexpire 30 -warnpriorndays 30
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You can configure the following parameters:

  • daystoexpire - The number of days remaining for the password expiration
  • warnpriorndays - The number of days before password expiration to issue a warning

Note:

You must set the daystoexpire parameter if you want to set the warnpriorndays parameter.

The following is a sample warning message on a NetScaler CLI console:

Warnpriorndays message

Notify users for nsroot password change by using the GUI

  1. Navigate to Configuration > System > Settings > Change Global System Settings.
  2. In the Other Settings section, set the following parameters:
    • Days to Expire
    • Warn Prior N Days

    Set notification in GUI

  3. Click OK.

Force password change for administrative users

For nsroot secured authentication, NetScaler prompts the user to change the default password to a new one if the forcePasswordChange option is enabled in the system parameter. You can change your nsroot password either from CLI or GUI, on your first login with the default credentials.

At the command prompt, type:

set system parameter -forcePasswordChange ( ENABLED | DISABLED )

SSH session example for NSIP:

ssh nsroot@1.1.1.1
Connecting to 1.1.1.1:22...
Connection established.
To escape to local shell, press Ctrl+Alt+].
###############################################################################
WARNING: Access to this system is for authorized users only #
Disconnect IMMEDIATELY if you are not an authorized user! #

###############################################################################
Please change the default NSROOT password.
Enter new password:
Please re-enter your password:
Done
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Remove sensitive files in a system user account

To manage sensitive data such as authorized keys and public keys for a system user account, you must enable the removeSensitiveFiles option. The commands that remove sensitive files when the system parameter is enabled are:

  • rm cluster instance
  • rm cluster node
  • rm high availability node
  • clear config full
  • join cluster
  • add cluster instance

At the command prompt, type:

set system parameter removeSensitiveFiles ( ENABLED | DISABLED )

Example:

set system parameter -removeSensitiveFiles ENABLED

Strong password configuration for system users

For secured authentication, NetScaler prompts system users and administrators to set strong passwords to log on to the console. The password must be long and must be a combination of:

  • One lower case character
  • One upper case character
  • One numeric character
  • One special character

At the command prompt, type:

set system parameter -strongpassword <value> -minpasswordlen <value>

Where,

Strongpassword. After enabling strong password (enable all / enablelocal) all the passwords or sensitive information must have the following:

  • At least 1 lower case character
  • At least 1 upper case character
  • At least 1 numeric character
  • At least 1 special character

Exclude the list in enablelocal is - NS_FIPS, NS_CRL, NS_RSAKEY, NS_PKCS12, NS_PKCS8, NS_LDAP, NS_TACACS, NS_TACACSACTION, NS_RADIUS, NS_RADIUSACTION, NS_ENCRYPTION_PARAMS. So no Strong Password checks are performed on these ObjectType commands for the system user.

Possible values: enableall, enablelocal, disabled Default value: disabled

minpasswordlen. Minimum length of the system user password. When the strong password is enabled by default, the minimum length is 4. User entered value can be greater than or equal to 4. The default minimum value is 1 when the strong password is disabled. The maximum value is 127 in both cases.

Minimum value: 1 Maximum value: 127

Example:

set system parameter -strongpassword enablelocal -minpasswordlen 6

Default user account

The nsrecover user account is used by the administrator to recover the NetScaler appliance. You can log on to NetScaler using nsrecover if the default system users (nsroot) are unable to log in due to any unforeseen issues. The nsrecover login is independent of user configurations and lets you access the shell prompt directly. You are always allowed to log in through the nsrecover irrespective of whether the maximum configuration limit is reached.

User account and password management
January 10, 2024
Contributed by: 
H C
January 10, 2024
Contributed by: 
H C

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