CPF1118: No password associated with user

What it means

An IBM i user profile can have a real password, or the special value *NONE. A profile with *NONE has no password at all, so the sign-on display has nothing to check against and refuses the sign-on with CPF1118.

This is usually deliberate. Group profiles, profiles that own application objects and profiles used only by batch jobs are normally given PASSWORD(*NONE) so no person can sign on as them. IBM's own security guidance recommends it for group profiles. At security level 40 and above (QSECURITY), the system also blocks other ways of starting a job as a profile without giving its password.

So CPF1118 usually means someone typed the name of a profile that isn't meant for people. Less often, a new user's profile was created without a password by mistake.

Common causes

• The user typed a group or application profile name, such as a department group, instead of their own user ID.
• A new user profile was created without a password, or with the password left at *NONE while waiting for setup to finish.
• An administrator set PASSWORD(*NONE) to lock out a profile instead of disabling it.
• A shared or service profile has been locked down by policy, and someone is still trying to use it interactively.

How to find the problem

1. An administrator can run DSPUSRPRF USRPRF(name), which shows whether the profile's password is *NONE.
2. Check whether the profile is a group profile. DSPUSRPRF shows the group profile fields, and DSPAUTUSR lists profiles with group information and whether each has a password.
3. Ask the security team whether the profile is meant for people at all. Object owners and group profiles usually aren't.

How to fix it

• Sign on with your own user ID instead.
• If the profile really belongs to a person, set a password and force a change at first sign-on with CHGUSRPRF USRPRF(name) PASSWORD(temp) PWDEXP(*YES).
• Leave group and object-owner profiles at PASSWORD(*NONE). Give people their own profiles with the group profile set, so they inherit its authority without signing on as it.
• If someone needs to run work as a service profile, use a job description or the job scheduler under proper controls rather than giving the profile a password.

DSPMSGD MSGID(CPF1118) MSGF(QSYS/QCPFMSG)

Technical reviewer: Albert Joseph, WND Software.

Last reviewed 2026-10-18 by the WND Software team. Written in our own words. For the full reference, check IBM’s documentation for your IBM i release.