Password protection for Ringnodes

You can only password protect Madge Ringnodes or Bridgenodes that have a Smartrom fitted.

For example, if Promiscuous Receive Mode is disabled on your Smartrom (as it is, by default), and you are concerned to prevent anybody from enabling it (to run network analyzer software), use password protection.

To protect your Ringnode, read the instructions below:

1. Create a Master Disk. To do this, copy PWSET and PWRESCUE from the Madge CSS Release Disk onto another disk. Then run PWSET from the new disk by typing PWSET /MASTER [Enter].

   When you use the /MASTER option, PWSET does not give you the opportunity to set a Ringnode's password. Instead, it creates for itself a unique Master Key which it embeds into the copies of PWSET and PWRESCUE on this Master Disk.

2. Create a Working Copy of PWSET. To do this, copy PWSET (but not PWRESCUE) from the Master Disk onto another floppy. Store the Master Disk securely to prevent unauthorized access to PWRESCUE.

   When you run PWSET on a Ringnode for the first time, it writes its Master Key to the Ringnode. Subsequently, for any Working Copy of PWSET to work on that Ringnode, the program's Master Key must match the Master Key on the Ringnode.

3. Using the Working Copy of PWSET, set or alter passwords for the Ringnodes in the workstations on your network (see the caution below).
   • To set a password, type: PWSET [Enter]. When prompted, choose the I/O location that identifies the Ringnode you wish to protect. If the Ringnode has no existing password, you are prompted to type one. If it has one, you are prompted to type it, then to type a new one. Passwords must comprise at least 8 characters.

   • To remove password protection, type: PWSET /CLEAR [Enter]. When prompted, choose the I/O location that identifies the Ringnode you wish to remove protection from. When prompted, type the existing password. When you have done this, protection is removed.

4. If you lose the password for a Ringnode that you need to reconfigure, take the correct Master Disk for that Ringnode (that is, take the Master Disk used to create the Working Copy of PWSET that was originally used on that Ringnode) and run PWRESCUE. This removes password protection. Then use a Working Copy of PWSET, from the same Master Disk, to set a new password.

For a Working Copy of PWSET to work on a Ringnode that has already been password protected, the program's Master Key must match the Master Key on the Ringnode. For PWRESCUE to work, its Master Key must also match the Master Key on the Ringnode.