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UBC Mathematics: MathNet FAQ [Changing password]


UBC Mathematics: MathNet FAQ [Changing password]


Question: How do I change my password?
Author: Joseph Tam
Date: Dec/2020

Types of passwords

There are 2 passwords commonly in use within the MathNet system:

  • The MathNet password is the password you use to log in to our public Unix and Windows computers, remote Email and Webmail services, MathNet User Services, as well our internal web site. The latter may take an hour to take effect.
  • The Samba password is the password you use to allow access to your MathNet home directory, web directory and some restricted access printers from a Windows workstation. Samba uses its own password system, and setting its password to the password used on your workstation will allow easier access to these services. If you use our public Windows hosts, you should set it to your MathNet password.

Using a web browser

You can use our

MathNet User Services
site to change your password(s). Click on the above link, log yourself in using your current username and password, then follow the instructions on that page.

Using the Unix command line

You can also change your password using the Unix command line interface by logging on to our MathNet Unix public hosts and issuing the command 

	# Change MathNet password
	passwd -r nis $LOGNAME

	# Change Samba password
	smbpasswd -c/dev/null -h samba

In all cases, you will have to enter your current password before you can change it.