Intel® Server Board S2600WF Product Family Technical Product Specification
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re-ordering, and prevent unauthorized system power on. It is strongly recommended that an administrator
password be set. A system with no administrator password set allows anyone who has access to the server to
change BIOS settings.
An administrator password must be set in order to set the user password.
The maximum length of a password is 14 characters and can be made up of a combination of alphanumeric
(a-z, A-Z, 0-9) characters and any of the following special characters:
! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) - _ + = ?
Passwords are case sensitive.
The administrator and user passwords must be different from each other. An error message is displayed and
a different password must be entered if there is an attempt to enter the same password for both. The use of
strong passwords is encouraged, but not required. In order to meet the criteria for a strong password, the
password entered must be at least eight characters in length, and must include at least one each of
alphabetic, numeric, and special characters. If a weak password is entered, a warning message is displayed,
and the weak password is accepted. Once set, a password can be cleared by changing it to a null string. This
requires the administrator password, and must be done through BIOS setup. Clearing the administrator
password also clears the user password. Passwords can also be cleared by using the password clear jumper
on the server board. For more information on the password clear jumper, see Section 11.2.
Resetting the BIOS configuration settings to default values (by any method) has no effect on the
administrator and user passwords.
As a security measure, if a user or administrator enters an incorrect password three times in a row during the
boot sequence, the system is placed into a halt state. A system reset is required to exit out of the halt state.
This feature makes it more difficult to guess or break a password.
In addition, on the next successful reboot, the Error Manager displays a Major Error code 0048, which also
logs a SEL event to alert the authorized user or administrator that a password access failure has occurred.
10.1.2
System Administrator Password Rights
When the correct administrator password is entered when prompted, the user has the ability to perform the
following actions:
•
Access the BIOS setup utility.
•
Configure all BIOS setup options in the BIOS setup utility.
•
Clear both the administrator and user passwords.
•
Access the Boot Menu during POST.
If the Power On Password function is enabled in BIOS setup, the BIOS halts early in POST to request a
password (administrator or user) before continuing POST.
10.1.3
Authorized System User Password Rights and Restrictions
When the correct user password is entered, the user has the ability to perform the following actions:
•
Access the BIOS setup utility.
•
View, but not change, any BIOS setup options in the BIOS setup utility.
•
Modify system time and date in the BIOS setup utility.
If the Power On Password function is enabled in BIOS setup, the BIOS halts early in POST to request a
password (administrator or user) before continuing POST.
Configuring an administrator password imposes restrictions on booting the system, and configures most
setup fields to read-only if the administrator password is not provided. The boot popup menu requires the
