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1.4.1. Minimum Password Length

By default, Ubuntu requires a minimum password length of 6 characters, as well as some basic entropy checks. These values are controlled in the file /etc/pam.d/common-password, which is outlined below.

password [success=1 default=ignore] pam_unix.so obscure sha512

If you would like to adjust the minimum length to 8 characters, change the appropriate variable to min=8. The modification is outlined below.

password [success=1 default=ignore] pam_unix.so obscure sha512 minlen=8

Basic password entropy checks and minimum length rules do not apply to the administrator using sudo level commands to setup a new user.

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