Step 1: Changing your password

1. Telnet to the server and login. (Or, even better, use a secure shell program, like Putty.)
2. Once you are logged in, you can change your password. Type:

   passwd

   in all lower-case letters. Note the abbreviated spelling. You need to spell the command exactly as shown. It has to be typed exactly as it is spelled here.
3. Press the Enter key on your keyboard.
4. It should say "Old Password:"
5. Type your old password. This is the password you used to have. Not the new password.
6. Press the Enter key on your keyboard once again.
7. It might say: "passwd: Authentication failure". This most likely means you have typed your password incorrectly. For example, you may have forgotten what your password is, or you may have pressed one of the wrong keys. Or, you may have typed your new password by mistake. (sysadmins see below).
8. If you type your old password correctly, you can now move on to telling the computer your new password. Be forewarned, you must pick a good password, otherwise it will say "Bad password: too simple", "Bad password: too short", or something similar. This means you have to pick a better password. It's good to use a combination of upper- and lower-case letters, digits, and punctuation marks. But don't use weird keys like the Function Keys, Escape, or the keys on the right side of the keyboard such as Home, PgUp, etc. This would cause problems.
9. So, pick a new password and type it on the screen. Notice that while you are typing your password, no characters are printed on the screen. This is okay. Press the Enter key on your keyboard when you're finished.
10. Now, you have to type the password again, to prove to the computer that you typed it correctly. The computer is naturally skeptical that people can do this. Type your new password, and press the Enter key. You must type same new password twice. It must be exactly the same both times.
11. It should say "Password changed".

1. Now, you need to change something called your "SMB password". Type the following:

   smbpasswd

2. It will say "Old SMB password:". Type your old password, that is, the original password before you changed it.
3. Press the Enter key on your keyboard.
4. It will say "New SMB password:". Type your new password, that is, the password you changed your old password to a few minutes ago. The new SMB password has to be the same as your new regular password. If your password has capital letters in it, you have to make them capital letters every time.
5. Press the Enter key on your keyboard.
6. Enter your new password again, and press Enter.
7. Congratulations! You have successfully changed your password on the server.
8. Write the password down in a secure location, or memorize it. If you forget your password, you will have to ask the administrator to reset your password for you. There is no easy way the administrator can figure out what your password was. They will have to give you a new one. Then you will have to do this all over again.

This step is easy.

1. Type exit