How to create a new account on LX:

Using any SSH aware terminal software (like Putty, amongst others) 
establish a connection with lx.cs.niu.edu.

For a login name students should use their z number, with a lower case z.
(For example, z234567.)  For their password they should use their
birthday in YYYYMMDD format.

The first time they enter their password, the account does not exist and 
the password will fail.  But this will cause a check for a valid z ID on 
the system and if properly authorized (signed up for a class) an account 
will be created.  Subsequent password attempts at this point will also 
fail.  The session/program needs to be killed and restarted.

The second session attempt will allow them to login with their birthday 
password, but they will be immediately required to come up with a more 
robust password.  After the new password has been created, the system 
will kick them off to log in again using the new password.

The third and all subsequent times, they should be able to log in 
directly with their new password.

The system will check for quality passwords and reject any that are
weak. Passwords should be 6-8 characters with mixed lower case
alphabetic, numeric, and punctuation.