password length problems in linux
Some times you may have faced a situation in which you can use the first 8 letters of your password for server login even though your actual password length is more than 8 character.
This occurs because of the method of encryption used in linux system. The DES http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Encryption_Standard is used in many system to encrypt password uses only 8 characters, rest of the characters doesn’t matters in DES. So anyone can login using first 8 characters of the password.
The solution is to change the encryption method.
1. Run the command “setup” in command prompt
2. Select “Authentication configuration” and press “run tool” button
3. In Authentication section select “Use MD5 passwords.
6. press ok and change the password using “passwd” command.
that will fix the issue. 
