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# Node Authentication Credentials

ArcSight Management Center authenticates to each managed node each time it communicates with the node, using the node's authentication credentials—that is, username and password—you supply when first adding the host. If the host includes connectors or containers, then authentication credentials must also be supplied for these as well. (Exception: Transformation Hub does not require authentication credentials for individual nodes.) As a result, valid credentials for each node are required when adding a host.

## Determining a Node’s Credentials:

Consult the system administrator for each managed node to determine its current login credentials. Each ArcSight product ships with a default set of credentials. However, for optimal security, it is expected that the default credentials are changed as soon as possible by the administrator, so the default credentials may no longer be valid for authentication.

- For default credentials for ArcSight products, consult the relevant product administrator’s guide. (For SmartConnector default credentials, consult the SmartConnector User's Guide, available from the OpenText Community.)

- Some products can be configured by administrators to use external authentication, in which case the external authentication credentials or fallback credentials should be provided when adding the host to ArcMC. (SmartConnectors may not be configured for external authentication.)

## Changed or Expired Credentials

If the username or password on a node are changed (or expire) any time after the node is added to ArcSight Management Center, then the node will no longer be managed. However, it will still appear in the list of managed nodes. For example, on some hosts, passwords are set to expire automatically after some time period, which would prevent successful authentication by ArcMC using the node’s initial credentials. To avoid this issue, you may wish to use node credentials that do not expire. To continue management of node on which the credentials have changed or expired, use the Update Host Credentials feature.

## Dynamic Credentials

If authentication credentials are configured to change dynamically (such as with RADIUS one-time passwords), then instead of providing external authentication credentials, you can provide the credentials of a local user on the managed node who is permitted to use fallback authentication. ArcMC will then try to authenticate to the managed node using the external authentication method first, and if this fails, it will try to authenticate to the managed node using the local user credentials.