IT Services passwords

Your SSO password is used to access a number of services including:

• Nexus 365 email and the Nexus365 portal.
• Canvas, virtual learning environment.
• IT Services Self Registration, for managing accounts and software downloads.
• the CoSY course booking system.
• the GNU/Linux service.
• some department and college facilities.

Further SSO details can be found on the Oxford Username and Single Sign-On page.

Password rules

The rules the Single Sign-On password must follow are that it:

• is a minimum of 16 characters.
• must not be a dictionary word or a name.
• must be different from, and not based upon, your Oxford username.
• must not be a previously used password.
• must differ from the previous password by at least three characters.
• must contain at least 5 different characters.

Change your password / Reset a forgotten password

Your SSO account password has a lifetime of one year.  You will start to be prompted to change it three weeks before it is due to expire.

• If you know your old password you can use it to set a new password.
• If you have set your security questions you can reset a forgotten password.
• If you have not done so already, you are strongly encouraged to set your security questions.
• If you have forgotten your password and have not set security questions, or provide 3 incorrect responses to your security questions, you will need a rescue code.
• Your local IT Support Staff can provide you with a rescue code.
• The central IT Service Desk can send a rescue code to your registered alternate email address, or by University messenger to your primary college or departmental address.

To log in, use your Oxford username in the format of abcd1234@OX.AC.UK

A Remote Access account is used to access:

• the eduroam WiFi service.
• the VPN (Virtual Private Network) service.

To use Remote Access, you use your Oxford username and your Remote Access password.  A Remote Access account can be created or the password changed through the Self-Registration pages, with any status queries clarified on the card entitlements page.

Further details can be found on the Remote Access Account page.

Password rules

The rules the Remote Access password must follow are that it:

• must include at least one character from three of the following:
  • Lowercase letters (a-z)
  • Uppercase letters (A-Z)
  • Digits (0-9)
  • Punctuation characters (such as &'^!."[,]-+)
• must contain between 10 and 24 characters.
• must contain at least five different characters.
• must not contain backslashes, backticks, spaces, single quotes or double quotes.
• must not be a dictionary word or a name.
• must not be a subset or superset of your current password.
• must not be based on your SSO username.
• must not be the same as your SSO password.

Change your password

Your Remote Access password's expiry date is set to your University card's current expiry date whenever the password is changed.

• Your Remote Access password can be created or updated through your Self-Registration pages.

• The new password will become active within 15 minutes.

An OpenScape account is used to access:

• the Chorus telephone system.

Password rules

The rules the OpenScape password must follow are that it:

• must contain at least one character from each of the following:
  • Lowercase letters (a-z)
  • Uppercase letters (A-Z)
  • Digits (0-9)
  • Punctuation characters (such as &'^!."[,]-+)
• must contain between 8 and 32 characters.
• must not contain spaces, single quotes or double quotes.
• must not contain any character more than three times in succession.
• must not be the same as your SSO password.

Change your password

Your OpenScape password can be changed or reset your through your Self-Registration pages (this will also show you your username for the service).

A Chorus voicemail password is used for:

• the Chorus telephone system's voicemail service.

Password rules

The rules the Chorus voicemail password must follow are that it:

• must only include following characters:
  • Digits (0-9)
• must contain 6 digits.
• must not contain more than three of the same digit.
• must not be in a sequence.

Change your password

Your Chorus voicemail password can be changed or reset your through your Self-Registration pages.

An HFS backup password is used for:

• the HFS backup client.

Password rules

The rules the HFS backup password must follow are that it:

• must contain at least two characters from either of the following
  • Lowercase letters (a-z)
  • Uppercase letters (A-Z)
• must contain at least one character from either of the following:
  • Digits (0-9)
  • Plus, period, underscore, hyphen or ampersand characters (+._-&)
• must contain between 10 and 63 characters.

Change your password

HFS backup client passwords expire 190 days after being set.

• Your HFS backup password can be changed through the HFS Portal.

To log in, use your Oxford username (without @OX.AC.UK after it)

A CONNECT account is used to access:

• managed staff desktops, used by staff in UAS and GLAM
• the remote desktop service
• HR Reporting
• Casewise
• GoPro
• X5

Password rules

The rules the CONNECT account password must follow are that it:

• must contain at least 16 characters.
• must not have been used as one of your previous 24 passwords.

Change your password

Your CONNECT password will need to be changed every 12 months.

• Read our guidance on how to change your CONNECT password
• You can also unlock your CONNECT account or reset a forgotten password using the CONNECT password manager when connected to the Oxford network or using the VPN

For advice on accessing computers or facilities on your college or departmental computer network, please contact your local IT support teams.

Please see the login to a service page, which details what password you need for a number of services and accounts.  If IT Services do not directly support the service there will be a link to the team that does.

There is information available on passwords used at the Bodleian Libraries.