Configure a Splunk Enterprise password policy using the Authentication.conf configuration file

On Splunk Enterprise only, the authentication.conf file lets you create a password policy for users of your Splunk platform instance or deployment. Password policies set standards and minimum requirements for password complexity. The authentication.conf file is not applicable to Splunk Cloud, as you cannot configure the file on Splunk Cloud instances. Instead, use Splunk Web to configure passwords.

The policy you create with the file works with the native authentication scheme for Splunk Enterprise only. Password policies do not apply when you configure the instance to use the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) or Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) authentication schemes.

Procedure for creating a password policy using configuration files

1. Using a text editor, open the $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/system/local/authentication.conf file or editing.
2. Make edits to the [splunk_auth] section of the file to set the password policy, using information in the table that follows this procedure. Add or replace settings and assign values to the settings, for example minPasswordLength = 8.
3. Save the file and close it.
4. Restart Splunk Enterprise. The password policy comes into effect immediately.

The following table describes the details of each setting:

Setting	Description	Recommended value	Default value
minPasswordLength	Specify the minimum ASCII-based alphanumeric or special characters required when a user creates a new password. Splunk Enterprise supports values between 1 and 256 characters.	At least 8 characters	8
minPasswordUppercase	The number of uppercase letters required for user passwords.	At least one uppercase letter	0
minPasswordLowercase	The number of lowercase letters required for user passwords.	At least one lowercase letter	0
minPasswordSpecial	The number of special characters required for user passwords. When this setting is populated, a user can enter any special character except a semicolon.	At least one special character	0
minPasswordDigit	The number of numeric characters required for user passwords. Value can be 0 through the length of the password. The total allowed length of the password is 256. Do not create a password comprised of only number.	At least one number	0
expirePasswordDays	The number of days before the password expires. Allowed values are 0 to 3650 days.	90 days	90
expireAlertDays	The number of days in advance of password expiration that Splunk software issues user alerts. Allowed values are 0 to 120 days.	15 days	15
expireUserAccounts	Whether or not password expiration is turned on.	True	False
forceWeakPasswordChange	Whether or not the Splunk platform forces users to change weak passwords the next time they log in.	True	False
lockoutUsers	Whether or not the Splunk platform locks users out after a number of failed login attempts. When this setting is on, user lockout is local to each search head peer in a search cluster configuration. Search head cluster members do not replicate lockout status to other members.	True	True
lockoutMins	The number of minutes that a user must wait before attempting to log in again after a lockout. The user is locked out after entering an incorrect password more times than specified in the lockoutAttempts value in the lockoutThresholdMins setting. Supported values are 1 - 1440 minutes. When this setting is enabled on members of a search head cluster, user lockout applies to individual members, not the entire cluster.	At least 30 minutes	30
lockoutAttempts	The number of unsuccessful logins a user can attempt before the Splunk platform locks them out. The unsuccessful login attempts must occur within lockoutThresholdMins minutes. Supported values are 1 - 64 login attempts. When enabled on members of a search head cluster, user lockout applies to the single search head peer, not the entire cluster.	At least 5 attempts	5
lockoutThresholdMins	The number of minutes that must pass from the time of the first failed login before the failed login attempt counter resets. Supported values are 1 - 120 minutes. When this setting is enabled on members of a search head cluster, user lockout applies to the single search head peer, not the entire cluster.	At least 5 minutes	5
enablePasswordHistory	Whether or not the Splunk platform keeps a user's password history. If you disable this value and and enable it later, previously saved password history is preserved. Delete $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/opasswd to remove the password history.	True	False
passwordHistoryCount	The number of passwords that the Splunk platform stores in its password history for each user. If you enable password history and provide a number such as 25, then the user is not able to reuse their previous 25 passwords. Supported values are 1 - 128 stored passwords.	24 stored passwords	24