March 1, 2005 at 12:03 pm
Hi everyone,
It's my understanding that passwords in SQL Server 2000 can be 128 characters. I have a SQl Server Authentication login that has a 50 character pwd. When I try to register a SQL Server in Enterprise Manager (EM) using this login I can't do it. I get an error that says "Login failed for user " followed by the name of the user.
However if I merely shorten the password length to say, 15 characters I can then register the sql server using that same login.
I've double and triple checked that I was using the right password when it was the long one and I know I used the correct one. I've alternated back and forth between short passwords and long ones and the long ones keep failing when I try to register the server. I found articles on the microsoft site about a similar problem when setting the login/pwd for SQL Server Agent.
Does anyone know if there is a limitation on the length of a password for a login that will be used to register a SQL Server in SQL Server 2000?
March 2, 2005 at 8:40 am
I do not know of any limitations but apparently the problem does exist ... Here's a link I googled ...
http://archives.devshed.com/a/ng/373-78/Password-Length-Issue-With-SQL-Server-2000
RegardsRudy KomacsarSenior Database Administrator"Ave Caesar! - Morituri te salutamus."
March 2, 2005 at 8:48 am
I just tested this on a server ( Windows 2000 SP4, SQL Server 2000 SP3a ) and it worked fine. I created a SQL Server login call LONGTEST with a 50-character password. I used:
0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
I didn't have any problem registering the server in EM using the SQL login id and password.
March 2, 2005 at 8:57 am
mkeast is correct I've just perfomed the same test and it works (I should have tried it first ... doh !).
user --> long_password
password --> 0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Maybe it's a service pack issue ? I'm running SQL2K, SP3A and hot-fix 818
RegardsRudy KomacsarSenior Database Administrator"Ave Caesar! - Morituri te salutamus."
March 2, 2005 at 11:14 am
Hi Again,
to test the length limits, I piggybacked the password as follows
0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
and thereby made it 100 characters long, and it failed. I was able to use your 50-character pwd though. Strange.
March 2, 2005 at 12:25 pm
According to my tests, the maximum is actually 63 characters. 63 works, 64 fails. I wonder if there is a unicode issue that cuts the 128 in half. Interesting.
I must say, if I had to use a password that long, I'd go crazy. Although, I guess that would be could for the sa password, if it is used infrequently (or not at all). I switch to passphrases in that case.
Let me clarify - I can set a 128 character password, I just can't connect through EM with a password longer than 63 characters.
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