Friday Fine-Tune: Login recovery strategies
December 16, 2016
We have changed passwords on MANAGER.SYS—and now we cannot locate the changed passwords, thanks to some staff reductions that made the new passwords unavailable. Any ideas on how to recover them?
John Stevens says
If you're logged on as OPERATOR.SYS, do LISTACCT on all the accounts that may have SM capability, then logon as the MGR/MANAGER of those accounts: TELESUP, and SUPPORT, and there are others; LISTACCT will find them. Login as those users (unless you don't have those passwords either) and LISTUSER MANAGER.SYS. Vesoft's MPEX might help ease some of this as well.
Duane Percox of QSS adds a simpler approach:
file xt=mytape;dev=disc
file syslist=$stdlist
store command.pub;*xt;directory;show
Using your favorite editor or other utility search for the string: "ALTUSER MANAGER SYS"
You will notice: PAS=<the pwd> which is your clue.
Steve Ritenour suggests that a logon to the TELSUP account will unlock the passwords.
Some 3000 managers believe the subject itself should be filed in a place not easily found. "These responses are all well and good," said Bruce Collins of Softvoyage, "but shouldn't we be thinking twice about posting this kind of information (i.e. how to hack an HP 3000) to the 3000 newsgroup?"
A Google search with the right words will yield far more dangerous information about the 3000 that anything in this thread. The genesis of this information being on public networks came through BBS’s in the 1980s. I’m afraid the barn door is already open.
Can the password for MANAGER.SYS be reset?
Gilles Schipper says
Not easily. If you can log on as operator.sys, you should be able to store off the system directory to tape, as follows:
:file t;dev=tape
:store command.pub;*t;directory
Now that you have the directory on tape, you should be able to look around with fcopy (and the ;char and ;hex options) to find passwords for manager.sys.
John Stevens says
If you're logged on as OPERATOR.SYS, do LISTACCT on all the accounts that may have SM capability, then logon as the MGR/MANAGER of those accounts: TELESUP, SUPPORT, (I can't think of others right now, but LISTACCT will find them). Login as those users (unless you don't have those passwords either), and LISTUSER MANAGER.SYS MPEX might help ease some of this as well.