{"id":242745,"date":"2024-12-17T11:37:01","date_gmt":"2024-12-17T18:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/virtual-dba.com\/?p=242745"},"modified":"2024-12-20T11:41:20","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T18:41:20","slug":"easy-steps-to-creating-mysql-password-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/virtual-dba.com\/blog\/easy-steps-to-creating-mysql-password-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Easy Steps to Creating a MySQL Password Policy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Creating a password policy by enforcing strong, complex passwords for user accounts is an essential step to improve database security. While enforcing a password policy can seem restrictive, it is crucial to securing your database and protecting sensitive data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MySQL <\/a>and MariaDB have built-in plugins that provide an easy way to establish and enforce password policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The table below briefly describes the different plugins:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plugin name<\/td>Description<\/td>Server<\/td><\/tr>
validate_password<\/td>Enforces a password policy. When enabled, validate_password_policy sets requirements for password length and complexity.<\/td>MySQL<\/td><\/tr>
password_reuse_check<\/td>Prevents a user from reusing a password. When enabled, password_reuse_check_interval can be set to establish the retention period for the password history in days.<\/td>MariaDB<\/td><\/tr>
simple_password_check<\/td>When enabled, passwords need at least eight characters and require at least one digit, one uppercase character, one lowercase character, and one character that is neither a digit nor a letter. Can set system variables to enforce more password complexity.<\/td>MariaDB<\/td><\/tr>
cracklib_password_check<\/td>Check its strength against a system dictionary and a set of rules for identifying poor choices.<\/td>MariaDB<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Installing and Configuring Plugin<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first step is to check if the plugin is included with your installation. No matter if you have MySQL or MariaDB server installed, you can find the plugin directory using this command:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MariaDB> SHOW GLOBAL VARIABLES LIKE<\/mark> 'plugin_dir'<\/mark>;\n+---------------+------------------------+\n| Variable_name | Value                  |\n+---------------+------------------------+\n| plugin_dir    | \/usr\/lib\/mysql\/plugin\/ |\n+---------------+------------------------+\n\n$ cd \/usr\/lib\/mysql\/plugin\/ && ls<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Installing and loading the plugin is different, depending on your database server.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MySQL<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Installation of the validate_password plugin requires restarting the MySQL Server.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Installation<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To install the plugin, these options must be added to the configuration file (my.cnf or my.ini), and MySQL must be restarted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
[mysqld]\nplugin-load-add=validate_password.so\nvalidate-password=FORCE_PLUS_PERMANENT\nvalidate_password_policy=MEDIUM<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
2. Configuration<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
validate-password: <\/strong>prevents the server from running without the plugin, and server startup fails if the plugin does not initialize successfully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Options:<\/p>\n\n\n\n