GENERATE RANDOM PASSWORD

This Web-only function gives the system administrator the convenience of assigning a temporary password to an end user (or users) electronically. The temporary password is generated based on the Costpoint password complexity policy as defined in the Change Password function.

Electronic notification is done via email setup within Costpoint. Only the end user is notified. The System Administrator does not know what the password is.

The assigned password is temporary and must be changed by the end user upon login.

Preparation for  Random Password Generation

The email server information must already be set up in the Company Settings tab of the System Settings (Administration » Configure » System) screen.

The email Name (address) for the end user must be entered in the Workflow tab of the Users (Administration » Maintain » Users) screen.

The authentication method for the user must be either Costpoint Database or Windows Domain & Costpoint Database as defined in the Authentication tab of the Users (Administration » Maintain » Users) screen.

Generate Random Password

• Once the above criteria have been met, in the Users (Administration » Maintain » Users) application, use (Query) to find the user or users requiring a random password.

• Click the (Switch to Table View) button to view a listing of employees.

• Select the User(s) who require a random password. Click in the box before the name or use CTRL+Click to select multiple names.

• Click the (Action Button) on the  tool bar (or right click anywhere on the screen) to display the action “Generate Random Password”.

• Click to generate random passwords for the selected users.

• A confirmation message displays:

• Click OK to continue with the password generation or Cancel to stop the generation.

Use caution, because if no users have been selected, the system generates a new password for ALL queried users.

• The random password is generated and sent via email to each user.  No one else ever sees the password.  The user is prompted to change their password at the next login.

Auto Generate Random Password

If no edits or changes are made to a user, you can use the previous method. If edits or changes are the main purpose of the session, you can generate a random password at the same time by selecting this check box which automatically triggers the password generation when the information is saved. This method is designed especially for creating new users.

You can automatically generate random passwords for new or existing users as follows:

• When creating a new user, select the Generate Random Password check box on the Authentication tab of the Users (Administration » Maintain » Users) screen.  When the information for the new user is saved, an email with the random password is sent and the check box is cleared.

• When changing information for an existing user, you can also select this check box causing a random password to generate and an email to be sent when you save the updated information.  Again, to prevent future (unwanted) generation of random passwords, the check box is cleared after this procedure runs.