SLES

I have this syslog that collects input from SNARE, a FLOSS service that runs on WIndows and forwards this to my SLES9 server. Unfortunately the syslog settings are clearing the logfile out after so many days, wiping out something like an 8 hour window of time where we weren't able to see the logs.

At my day job, we have SLES9 and I need to introduce password complexity rules. We use NIS. Does anyone have the cheat sheet short instruction list for this? Also, have you been in the trenches, doing