Passwords are everywhere, every device or application or webpage you access requires a password. In order to improve security, organizations are implementing strong password policies and are asking their employees to frequently change their passwords with emphasis on uniqueness, complexity etc. This more often than not results in end users forgetting their passwords or locking their accounts. They then contact their service desk for help, there by impacting both their productivity and the service desk staff’s productivity.

Research has indicated more than 30% of requests to service desk are related to password management such as reset password, account logouts or change password etc. And Service Desk staff (technicians) and end users (Customers) spend a significant amount of time in resolving these requests.

Novell Service Desk version 7.1 provides Password Self Service option for organizations using Password Management tools such as NetIQ SSPR, PWM or other similar tools to enable users to manage their passwords themselves without contacting Service Desk.

This is applicable when the system is using Directory Servers such as Active Directory or eDirectory for user authentication and is not applicable while using internal authentication.

Most of the PSS tools provide an URL to redirect their end users to manage their passwords. You may want to check the documentation of your PSS tool for the URL and type of services provided  – such as reset forgotten password, change current password, setup of challenge response, new user registration etc. You might prefer to provide service to either reset forgotten password or change current password.

When configured, PSS allows customers and users to manage their passwords in your directory servers, thereby reducing requests to your service desk staff (technicians) and also increasing the end user(customer)  productivity.

Steps to configure PSS in Novell Service Desk

Login to Admin portal, Select Setup>PSS



Edit and set the Enable Self Service option to On, Specify the PSS tool URL and Save



You shall notice Password Self Service link on the main login screen



The system uses the display string as “Password Self Service” by default. If you wish to use your own display string or use localized string, you can do so by selecting Setup->Localization->Content, Select Category as “UI Messages”, and Message as “PSS”.  Click Edit and change the display string.