Score:20

How do I make Ubuntu accept a short password?

mo flag

I am partially sighted and entered my password with the Caps Lock key on. It takes me a long time to log-on as I have to try a number of passwords & Ubuntu doesn't show me what I have typed.

I would like to change my password to something short which is less likely to involve me mis-typing keys.

When I try a short password Ubuntu rejects my choice and won't let me continue.

How can I enter the password of my choice for Ubuntu?

Peter Cordes avatar
fr flag
Does it also reject a password like `xyzaaaa`, where you repeat a character multiple times to pad the length without extra risk of typos? (With limited sight, I assume you're implying that finding the right key is the challenge, and hitting it the right number of times wouldn't be a problem.) I wouldn't be surprised if modern password-quality checks would reject it as low-entropy, equivalent to short, though.
br flag
I use [input-remapper](https://www.linuxuprising.com/2020/12/remap-keyboard-and-mouse-buttons-on.html) to have my mouse generate my password plus <Enter> when I press an otherwise-unused mouse button. This works really well with a ["joystick mouse" like this](https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165433246528?var=464990069927), but since I don't normally use PageUp/PageDown buttons anyway, I'd just assign one of those if I didn't have that joystick available. For a home entertainment PC, having just that button reassignment plus another for <Space> means I rarely need to pick up my keyboard at all!
br flag
(...except when spreading the gospel here, for example! :)
Criggie avatar
za flag
Are you amenable to permitting auto-log in? https://help.ubuntu.com/stable/ubuntu-help/user-autologin.html.en
Score:31
om flag

You can simply run sudo passwd username in a terminal. Root is allowed to ignore the password rules, and you can enter whatever you want.

You can also edit /etc/security/pwquality.conf to suit your needs, but a single user system using sudo passwd is probably easier.

pk flag
yet another holdover from Linux being designed for multi-user mainframes...
vidarlo avatar
om flag
@user253751 and that root should be omnipotent.
Dennis Williamson avatar
th flag
@user253751: You've collapsed a lot of history into an imprecise statement. Linux was designed for microprocessors. It was inspired by Unix (minicomputers) which was inspired by Multics (mainframes). This comment is itself a gross oversimplification.
U. Windl avatar
gf flag
Well: First, think twice before using a rather trivial password. Second the UNIX idea is that "root known what he/she's doing". It does not mean: "Do whatever you want, but do it as root".
Peter - Reinstate Monica avatar
hn flag
@user253751 Apart from the "mainframe" inaccuracy: *Any* remotely accessible system (multi-user or not) needs strong authentication; if it's by password, it needs strong passwords. Windows, which in a way has converged to occupy a similar place as Linux does now (used as workstation as well as as server) from the opposite angle because it started as single-user DOS with zero security, is no exception.
pk flag
@Peter-ReinstateMonica well there you go then, yet another holdover from Linux being designed for remotely accessible systems
Peter - Reinstate Monica avatar
hn flag
@user253751 Since virtually *all* systems are remotely accessible today I really prefer one that was designed with that paradigm in mind. (That said, all Windowss today are NT based which was a complete redesign for server (and hence remote access) purposes.)
Score:3
in flag

I've found that Ubuntu and most of it's flavors will allow you to use a short password during Initial Installation (Without modifying anything). When doing so simply ignore the little message "Password is too short". It accepts it fine and I've been using two digit passwords for years.

Score:0
bb flag

Another answer would be to use a "yubikey" or equivalent. You simultaneously get an easier log-in process, AND better security! (Although I haven't used one myself, so they may be a gotcha!)

us flag
What is it and how to use that? Please add more details.
I sit in a Tesla and translated this thread with Ai:

mangohost

Post an answer

Most people don’t grasp that asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding. In Alison’s studies, for example, though people could accurately recall how many questions had been asked in their conversations, they didn’t intuit the link between questions and liking. Across four studies, in which participants were engaged in conversations themselves or read transcripts of others’ conversations, people tended not to realize that question asking would influence—or had influenced—the level of amity between the conversationalists.