Logins can be either interactive or noninteractive. When you
log in interactively, you enter an OpenVMS user name and a password.
In noninteractive logins, the system performs the identification
and authentication for you; you are not prompted for a user name
and password. (The term interactive, as used
here, differs from an interactive mode process defined by the DCL
lexical function F$MODE(). For a description of the F$MODE function,
see the HP OpenVMS DCL Dictionary
.)
In addition to interactive and noninteractive logins, the
OpenVMS operating system recognizes different classes of logins.
How you log in to the system determines the login class to
which you belong. Based on your login class, as well as the time
of day or day of the week, the system manager controls your access
to the system.
Logging In Interactively: Local, Dialup,
and Remote Logins Interactive logins include the following login classes:
Local You log in from a terminal connected directly to the central
processor or from a terminal server that communicates directly with
the central processor.
Dialup You log in to a terminal that uses a modem and a telephone
line to make a connection to the computer system. Depending on the
terminal that your system uses, you might need to execute a few
additional steps. Your site security administrator can give you
the necessary details.
Remote You log in to a node over the network by entering the DCL
command SET HOST. For example, to access the remote node HUBBUB,
you enter the following command:
$ SET HOST HUBBUB
If you have access to an account on node HUBBUB, you can log
in to that account from your local node. You have access to the
facilities on node HUBBUB, but you remain physically connected to
your local node.
Logging In Using External Authentication If you are an externally authenticated user,
you log in by entering your LAN Manager user ID and password at
the OpenVMS login prompts. Your LAN Manager user ID may or may not
be the same as your OpenVMS user name.
Reading Informational Messages When you log in from a terminal that is directly connected
to a computer, the OpenVMS system displays informational system
messages.
Local Login Messages illustrates
most of these messages.
Example 1 Local Login Messages
WILLOW - A member of the Forest Cluster [1] Unlawful Access is Prohibited Username:RWOODSPassword:You have the following disconnected process:[2]
Terminal Process name Image nameVTA52: RWOODS (none) Connect to above listed process [YES]: NOWelcome to OpenVMS on node WILLOW [3]Last interactive login on Wednesday, 1-DEC-2001 10:20[4]Last non-interactive login on Monday, 30-NOV-2001 17:39[5]2 failures since last successful login[6]You have 1 new mail message.[7]$
The preceding example illustrates the following:
The announcement
message identifies the node (and, if relevant, the cluster). It
may also warn unauthorized users that unlawful access is prohibited.
The system manager or security administrator can control both the
appearance and the content of this message.
A disconnected job message informs you that your
process was disconnected at some time after your last successful
login but is still available. You have the option of reconnecting
to the old process and returning your process to its state before
you were disconnected. The system displays the disconnected job message only when
the following conditions exist:
The terminal where the interruption
occurred is set up as a virtual terminal.
Your terminal is set up as one that can be disconnected.
During a recent session, your connection to the
central processing unit (CPU) through that terminal was broken before
you logged out.
In general, the security
administrator should allow you to reconnect to a disconnected job
because this ability poses no special problems for system security.
However, the security administrator can disable this function by
changing the setup on terminals and by disabling virtual terminals
on the system.
A welcome message indicates the version number of
the OpenVMS operating system that is running and the name of the
node on which you are logged in. The system manager can choose a
different message or can suppress the message entirely.
The last successful interactive login message provides
the time of the last completed login for a local, dialup, or remote
login. (The system does not count logins from a subprocess whose
parent was one of these types.)
The last successful noninteractive login message
provides the time the last noninteractive (batch or network) login
finished.
The number of login failures message indicates the
number of failed attempts at login. (An incorrect password is the
only source of login failure that is counted.) To attract your attention,
a bell rings after the message appears.
The new mail message indicates if you have any new
mail messages.
A security administrator can suppress the announcement and
welcome messages, which include node names and operating system
identification. Because login procedures differ from system to system,
it is more difficult to log in without this information.
The last login success and failure messages are optional.
Your security administrator can enable or disable them as a group.
Sites with medium-level or high-level security needs display these
messages because they can indicate break-in attempts. In addition,
by showing that the system is monitoring logins, these messages can
be a deterrent to potential illegal users.
Each time you log in, the system resets the values for the
last successful login and the number of login failures. If you access your
account interactively and do not specify an incorrect password in
your login attempts, you may not see the last successful noninteractive
login and login failure messages.
When the System Logs In for You: Network
and Batch Logins Noninteractive logins include network logins and batch logins.
The system performs a network login when you start a network
task on a remote node, such as displaying the contents of a directory
or copying files stored in a directory on another node. Both your
current system and the remote system must be nodes in the same network.
In the file specification, you identify the target node and provide
an access control string, which includes your user name and password
for the remote node.
For example, a network login occurs when user Greg, who has
an account on remote node PARIS, enters the following command:
This command displays a listing of all the files in the public
directory on disk WORK2. It also reveals the password 8G4FR93A.
A more secure way to perform the same task would be to use a proxy
account on node PARIS. For an example of a proxy login, see
Using Proxy Login Accounts to Protect Passwords.
The system performs a batch login when a batch job that you
submitted runs. Authorization to build the job is determined at
the time the job is submitted. When the system prepares to execute
the job, the job controller creates a noninteractive process that
logs in to your account. No password is required when the job logs
in.
HP OpenVMS Guide to System Security
Security for the User
