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Knowledge Base: Public
Category: Information Security / Identity & Access Management
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1.0 - Created on 2014-02-14 Authored by IET

Question

How do I change my passphrase?

Overview

Your UC Davis Computing Account consists of two key components:

  1. Your Kerberos LoginID (typically 6 to 8 alphanumeric characters)
  2. Your Kerberos Passphrase (between 12 and 48 alphanumeric characters)
Tips regarding your passphrase and account:
  • Wait 24 hours before using your account after you first create it. It takes time to process your new account.
  • Wait 20 minutes after resetting your passphrase. It can take this long for some services to recognize the new one.
Tips for creating a strong passphrase:
  • It must be a minimum of 12 characters.
  • It cannot start with a ($) or end with a space (_)
Example passphrases (please do not use these):
    • FALL Quarter 2024
    • I Like Coffee!
    • MyP@$$w0rd2024

Answer

We offer five methods for resetting your passphrase:

  1. Use your current passphrase
  2. Use your challenge questions
  3. Visit an IET lab on campus - If you are not attending classes on campus and need assistance, please call IT Express at 530-754-4357 from 7 am to 6 pm PST Monday through Friday excluding university holidays. 
  4. Visit an account proxy
  5. Contact IT Express

Use your current passphrase

Tip: In order to follow steps for this method, you will need to know your current passphrase.

  1. Go to Computing Accounts
  2. Click Change your passphrase.
  3. Enter your authentication information. It must match what is on file with payroll (faculty/staff) or the registrar (students).
  4. Click Submit Information.
  5. Enter your Kerberos LoginID and select Kerberos Passphrase for your authorization method.
  6. Make sure the checkbox for Change Passphrase For All Services is checked.
  7. Click Continue.
  8. Enter your current Kerberos Passphrase into the Old Kerberos Passphrase field.
  9. Enter your new Kerberos Passphrase into the New Passphrase field.
  10. Re-enter your new Kerberos Passphrase in the Confirm Passphrase field.
  11. Click Continue.
  12. Review the confirmation page, then click End Session.
You will receive an email to your official @ucdavis.edu usually within a few minutes whether you were successful or not. That email will not contain your passphrase. If you were unsuccessful in resetting your passphrase, try another method.

Use your challenge questions

Tip: In order to successfully use this method you will need to be able to answer all of your challenge questions. Challenge questions were set by you when you created your account, and they are not randomly assigned.
  1. Go to Computing Accounts
  2. Click Change your passphrase.
  3. Enter your authentication information. It must match what is on file with payroll (faculty/staff) or the registrar (students).
  4. Click Submit Information.
  5. Enter your Kerberos LoginID and select Passphrase Challenge Questions for your authorization method.
  6. Make sure the checkbox for Change Passphrase For All Services is checked.
  7. Click Continue.
  8. You may have anywhere from 3 to as many as 8 challenge questions. You will need to answer them all. They are not case sensitive.
  9. Click Continue.
  10. Enter your new Kerberos Passphrase into the New Passphrase field.
  11. Re-enter your new Kerberos Passphrase in the Confirm Passphrase field.
  12. Continue.
  13. Review the confirmation page, then click End Session.
You will receive an email to your official @ucdavis.edu usually within a few minutes whether you were successful or not. That email will not contain your passphrase. If you were unsuccessful in resetting your passphrase, try another method.

Visit an IET lab

Please see this link for Computer Room availability.

Tip: You will receive a temporary authorization number (5-digits) that you will use to reset your passphrase. This is not your new passphrase, rather it is required to reset the passphrase.

There are several locations on campus:

IET Labs hours of operations. IET lab resets are only available during hours that IT Express is open.

Due to COVID mitigations the Blaisdell Medical Library in Sacramento is only doing Passphrase Reset Monday through Friday 10am to 4pm.

Visit an account proxy

Your local departmental IT may have an account proxy for their staff and faculty. See the list of account proxies
Tip: You will receive a temporary authorization number (5-digits) that you will use to reset your passphrase. This is not your passphrase. It is required to reset the passphrase.

Contact IT Express

If you are unable to reset using one of the options above, please call IT Express at (530) 754-HELP (4357), Monday - Friday, 7 a.m. - 6 p.m. or you can start a chat session at letschat.ucdavis.edu, Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m

Revised by Tanner Davis
Last modified 8 months ago