Password complexity rules
This page describes the configuration details, best practices, and default values for the Password must meet complexity requirements security policy settings. The password complexity rules apply only to the embedded administrator account and internal user accounts (see User groups and permissions). When the password policy is updated, all users are prompted to update their passwords the next time they sign in.
The Passwords must meet complexity requirements policy setting forces passwords to meet a series of strong-password guidelines. You can configure passwords to meet the following requirements:
-
The password contains a minimum number of alphanumeric characters.
-
The password contains a minimum number of characters from the following categories:
- Uppercase Latin alphabet letters (
AthroughZ, with diacritic marks) - Lowercase Latin alphabet letters (
athroughz, sharp-s, with diacritic marks) - Base 10 digits (
0through9) - Non-alphanumeric characters (special characters): (
~!@#$%^&*_-+=`|\(){}[]:;"'<>,.?/) Currency symbols such as the Euro or British Pound aren't counted as special characters for this policy setting.
- Uppercase Latin alphabet letters (
Complexity requirements are enforced when passwords are changed or created.
Default values
The following table lists the actual and effective default policy values. Default values are also listed on the policy’s property page. The value range for the policy properties is between 8 and 128 for the Minimum password length property and between 0 and 128 for other policy properties.
| Policy property name | Default value | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
Minimum password length |
|
|
Minimum number of uppercase characters |
|
|
Minimum number of lowercase characters |
|
|
Minimum number of digits |
|
|
Minimum number of non-alphanumeric characters |
|
|
Best practices
Since 2013, the "NIST Special Publication 800-63. Appendix A" advises to include in passwords irregular capitalization, special characters, and at least one numeral. It is also recommended to change passwords regularly, at least every 90 days. This advice is followed by most systems, and was incorporated into a number of standards that businesses need to follow.
Maintain the 12-character minimum length requirement (longer length requirement is not necessarily better).
Enforce a combination of uppercase, lowercase, digits, and non-alphanumeric characters.
Educate your users not to reuse their Dynatrace passwords for non-Dynatrace purposes.
If possible, use your organization’s central user repository service – LDAP or SSO.