Password reset (no recovery email)

[Michal Ostapowicz]

Hi,

For the impatient, summary:

*  I originally set 14-char-long password, which succeeded in creating account, but fails to authenticate

* since the limit is 12 characters, is there a way for me to transform the too long password?

* if not, how can I reset the password? (I stupidly failed to provide the recovery email).

TLDR;

I appreciate that this is my mistake and I should have read all documentation before proceeding. However, what's done is done and now I need some help accessing my account.

I did the `pat-winlink configure`, set my callsign (2E0HUI) and password and I followed it with `pat-winlink connect telnet`, which resulted in (seemingly successful):

```
2026/01/05 18:30:50 Connecting to WL2K (telnet)...
2026/01/05 18:30:51 Connected to 3.229.251.227:8772 (tcp)
[WL2K-5.0-B2FWIHJM$]
CMS>
>FF
;PM: 2E0HUI 2E0HUI#$61ZE 892 SER...@winlink.org Your New Winlink Account
FC EM 2E0HUI#$61ZE 1496 892 0
F> B7
1 proposal(s) received
Accepting 2E0HUI#$61ZE
Receiving [Your New Winlink Account] [offset 0]
Your New Winlink Account: 100%
>FF
FQ
2026/01/05 18:30:52 Disconnected.
```

However, subsequent attempts to `pat-winlink connect telnet` inform me that `Exchange failed: [1] Secure login failed - account password does not match.`

When I tried to log-in via the website, I got an error message: "Password must have six to twelve characters", which made me realise that the limit is 12 characters and I used 14.  What's more, I made another mistake by not providing a recovery email.

I guess that if I wait 400 days, the account will be deleted, but I'd really be great it if it was possible to resolve my problem a bit faster.

Thanks,

/Michal

[David R. Andersen]

Michael - your winlink account has a password recovery process. See
the details at winlink.org. I don't believe the pat developers are
able to handle anything regarding winlink accounts themselves.

Dave K0RX

On Mon, Jan 05, 2026 at 11:37:21AM -0800, Michal Ostapowicz wrote:
>TLDR;

[Dominic OE7DRT]

Michal Ostapowicz <ostapo...@gmail.com> on 05.01.26 22:11:

> When I tried to log-in via the website, I got an error message: "Password
> must have six to twelve characters", which made me realise that the limit
> is 12 characters and I used 14. What's more, I made another mistake by not
> providing a recovery email.

Have you tried to enter just the first 12 characters of the password?

-dominic

--
We do not remember days, we remember moments.
- Cesare Pavese

[Martin Hebnes Pedersen]

Hi Michal,

You used an older Pat version, didn't you? As of v0.19.0 you should have been guided to set a valid password via online account registration if you used `pat configure` or the web gui to enter your callsign etc.

Anyway, from your log I see that you received the "Your New Winlink Account" message. That message has your actual system-provided password in it.

The password you entered in the config before the initial connect was completely ignored, as if you left it empty. When connecting the first time, the system autogenerates a password for you and send it to you as the "Your New Winlink Account" message.

Hope this helps!

-- 

73 de LA5NTA / Martin

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[Scott Currie]

And I added your gmail account as the password recovery address, so you can now go to the website and ask for password recovery if you lost the auto-generated password message that was sent. 

-Scott, NS7C

[Michal]

Hi Scott,

Thank you so much.  That worked and I can access my account now.

Thank you everyone for your messages.  I'm sorry for not replying earlier (I was at work and couldn't find a moment to do it).

Best,

/Michal

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--

/Michal