Unit password management is the feature set enabled by the Unit Assistant role that you can use to safely and securely update the passwords of all your video units and Synergis™ units from a central location.
With the Unit Assistant role, you can change the passwords from Security Center and apply them to your units. To
distribute the workload, the password change requests are relayed to the Archiver
roles responsible for the video units, and to the Access Manager roles responsible
for the access control units. A successful password change request must pass the
following tests:
- Connection with the new password must succeed
- Connection with the old password must fail.
All password related operations are controlled by privileges and must be performed from Config Tool. The last five password change requests for every unit are kept, encrypted, in the Unit Assistant database. Should you lose your passwords for any reason, contact Genetec™ Technical Assistance Center.
Supported password operations
- Change passwords individually on each unit, from the unit Properties
page.The following privileges are required, depending on your unit type:
- Update video unit password
- Update access control unit password
NOTE: Passwords can be manually entered or system generated. We recommend using system-generated passwords because they are more secure. The system always uses the highest password complexity supported by the manufacturers. - View and export unit passwords from the Hardware inventory task.
The View/export unit passwords privilege is required.
- Update unit passwords in batches from the Hardware inventory
task.The following privileges are required, depending on your unit type:
- Update video unit password
- Update access control unit password
- Execute the Update unit password action from scheduled tasks and event-to-actions.
Supported video unit models
Only certain models of video units support the password update feature from Config Tool. You might have to upgrade the unit firmware for this feature to work. For the list of manufacturers that support this feature, see Manufacturers that support password update.Supported Synergis™ units
Synergis™ units running Synergis™ Softwire 11.0 or later support the password update feature from Config Tool.Best practices for password management
- Use HTTPS whenever it is possible.
- Track password change and export operations with the Activity trails
report.
Enable the Unit password changed and Unit passwords exported options in , under the General category.
- Always export the unit passwords from the Hardware inventory task after password updates. This ensures that you have a copy of the passwords if you ever need to connect to the units through their web portals.
- Always export the unit passwords when all the units are online. This ensures that all current working passwords are captured in the export.
- Include the Unit Assistant database in your backup procedure. This ensures that your latest password change requests are backed up in the event of a problem.
- Always test this feature on a few units before applying it to a large batch of units of the same brand and model.
- Changing a unit password causes a short recording interruption, so choose a time of day that minimizes disruption to your operations.