byte[] pw_bytes = new String( pw_chars ).getBytes( "UTF8" );
SHA1 sha1 = new SHA1();
sha1.update( ByteBuffer.wrap( salt ));
sha1.update( ByteBuffer.wrap( pw_bytes ));
String encoded_pw = ByteFormatter.encodeString( sha1.digest());
COConfigurationManager.setParameter( persist_timeout_key, timeout );
COConfigurationManager.setParameter( persist_pw_key_type, pw_type );