This section describes the options, system variables, and status
variables that validate_password
provides to
enable its operation to be configured and monitored.
To control activation of the
validate_password
plugin, use this option:
-
Command-Line Format --validate-password[=value]
Type Enumeration Default Value ON
Valid Values ON
OFF
FORCE
FORCE_PLUS_PERMANENT
This option controls how the server loads the
validate_password
plugin at startup. The value should be one of those available for plugin-loading options, as described in Installing and Uninstalling Plugins. For example,--validate-password=FORCE_PLUS_PERMANENT
tells the server to load the plugin at startup and prevents it from being removed while the server is running.This option is available only if the
validate_password
plugin has been previously registered withINSTALL PLUGIN
or is loaded with--plugin-load-add
. See Section 6.3.1, “Password Validation Plugin Installation”.
If the validate_password
plugin is enabled,
it exposes several system variables that enable configuration
of password checking:
mysql> SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'validate_password%';
+--------------------------------------+--------+
| Variable_name | Value |
+--------------------------------------+--------+
| validate_password_dictionary_file | |
| validate_password_length | 8 |
| validate_password_mixed_case_count | 1 |
| validate_password_number_count | 1 |
| validate_password_policy | MEDIUM |
| validate_password_special_char_count | 1 |
+--------------------------------------+--------+
To change how passwords are checked, you can set these system variables at server startup or at runtime. The following list describes the meaning of each variable.
validate_password_dictionary_file
Command-Line Format --validate-password-dictionary-file=file_name
System Variable validate_password_dictionary_file
Scope Global Dynamic (≥ 5.6.26) Yes Dynamic (≤ 5.6.25) No Type File name The path name of the dictionary file that
validate_password
uses for checking passwords. This variable is unavailable unlessvalidate_password
is installed.By default, this variable has an empty value and dictionary checks are not performed. For dictionary checks to occur, the variable value must be nonempty. If the file is named as a relative path, it is interpreted relative to the server data directory. File contents should be lowercase, one word per line. Contents are treated as having a character set of
utf8
. The maximum permitted file size is 1MB.For the dictionary file to be used during password checking, the password policy must be set to 2 (
STRONG
); see the description of thevalidate_password_policy
system variable. Assuming that is true, each substring of the password of length 4 up to 100 is compared to the words in the dictionary file. Any match causes the password to be rejected. Comparisons are not case-sensitive.For
VALIDATE_PASSWORD_STRENGTH()
, the password is checked against all policies, includingSTRONG
, so the strength assessment includes the dictionary check regardless of thevalidate_password_policy
value.Before MySQL 5.6.26, changes to the dictionary file while the server is running require a restart for the server to recognize the changes. As of MySQL 5.6.26,
validate_password_dictionary_file
can be set at runtime and assigning a value causes the named file to be read without a server restart.-
Command-Line Format --validate-password-length=#
System Variable validate_password_length
Scope Global Dynamic Yes Type Integer Default Value 8
Minimum Value 0
The minimum number of characters that
validate_password
requires passwords to have. This variable is unavailable unlessvalidate_password
is installed.The
validate_password_length
minimum value is a function of several other related system variables. The value cannot be set less than the value of this expression:validate_password_number_count + validate_password_special_char_count + (2 * validate_password_mixed_case_count)
If
validate_password
adjusts the value ofvalidate_password_length
due to the preceding constraint, it writes a message to the error log. validate_password_mixed_case_count
Command-Line Format --validate-password-mixed-case-count=#
System Variable validate_password_mixed_case_count
Scope Global Dynamic Yes Type Integer Default Value 1
Minimum Value 0
The minimum number of lowercase and uppercase characters that
validate_password
requires passwords to have if the password policy isMEDIUM
or stronger. This variable is unavailable unlessvalidate_password
is installed.For a given
validate_password_mixed_case_count
value, the password must have that many lowercase characters, and that many uppercase characters.validate_password_number_count
Command-Line Format --validate-password-number-count=#
System Variable validate_password_number_count
Scope Global Dynamic Yes Type Integer Default Value 1
Minimum Value 0
The minimum number of numeric (digit) characters that
validate_password
requires passwords to have if the password policy isMEDIUM
or stronger. This variable is unavailable unlessvalidate_password
is installed.-
Command-Line Format --validate-password-policy=value
System Variable validate_password_policy
Scope Global Dynamic Yes Type Enumeration Default Value 1
Valid Values 0
1
2
The password policy enforced by
validate_password
. This variable is unavailable unlessvalidate_password
is installed.The
validate_password_policy
value can be specified using numeric values 0, 1, 2, or the corresponding symbolic valuesLOW
,MEDIUM
,STRONG
. The following table describes the tests performed for each policy. For the length test, the required length is the value of thevalidate_password_length
system variable. Similarly, the required values for the other tests are given by othervalidate_password_
variables.xxx
Policy Tests Performed 0
orLOW
Length 1
orMEDIUM
Length; numeric, lowercase/uppercase, and special characters 2
orSTRONG
Length; numeric, lowercase/uppercase, and special characters; dictionary file validate_password_special_char_count
Command-Line Format --validate-password-special-char-count=#
System Variable validate_password_special_char_count
Scope Global Dynamic Yes Type Integer Default Value 1
Minimum Value 0
The minimum number of nonalphanumeric characters that
validate_password
requires passwords to have if the password policy isMEDIUM
or stronger. This variable is unavailable unlessvalidate_password
is installed.
If the validate_password
plugin is enabled,
it exposes status variables that provide operational
information:
mysql> SHOW STATUS LIKE 'validate_password%';
+-----------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| Variable_name | Value |
+-----------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| validate_password_dictionary_file_last_parsed | 2015-06-29 11:08:51 |
| validate_password_dictionary_file_words_count | 1902 |
+-----------------------------------------------+---------------------+
The following list describes the meaning of each status variable.
validate_password_dictionary_file_last_parsed
When the dictionary file was last parsed.
This variable was added in MySQL 5.6.26.
validate_password_dictionary_file_words_count
The number of words read from the dictionary file.
This variable was added in MySQL 5.6.26.