Hi, We have been told we have to change our Domain Administrator password.

Is this as simple as going into A/D and reseting the password or is there
more involved.

Any advice would be grateful.

Thx

RE: Administrator password by DavidDavis

DavidDavis
Tue Jun 14 12:19:02 CDT 2005

I would recommend logging in as the domain administrator, hitting Ctl-Alt-Del
and using the change password utility. Be sure that you are not logged on
using this account on any other machine on the network. Also, make sure that
you are not running any services using this account. (not trying to insult
your intelligence, I have several clients that, in the past, have assigned
this account to a service) If you are logged elswhere on or have services
running and you change the password, then you will end up locking the Domain
Admin account.
--
David Davis, MCSE, CCNA, Security +
Network Engineer


"Ballyb" wrote:

> Hi, We have been told we have to change our Domain Administrator password.
>
> Is this as simple as going into A/D and reseting the password or is there
> more involved.
>
> Any advice would be grateful.
>
> Thx

RE: Administrator password by Ballyb

Ballyb
Mon Jun 20 06:33:16 CDT 2005

Nice 1, thanks.

"David Davis" wrote:

> I would recommend logging in as the domain administrator, hitting Ctl-Alt-Del
> and using the change password utility. Be sure that you are not logged on
> using this account on any other machine on the network. Also, make sure that
> you are not running any services using this account. (not trying to insult
> your intelligence, I have several clients that, in the past, have assigned
> this account to a service) If you are logged elswhere on or have services
> running and you change the password, then you will end up locking the Domain
> Admin account.
> --
> David Davis, MCSE, CCNA, Security +
> Network Engineer
>
>
> "Ballyb" wrote:
>
> > Hi, We have been told we have to change our Domain Administrator password.
> >
> > Is this as simple as going into A/D and reseting the password or is there
> > more involved.
> >
> > Any advice would be grateful.
> >
> > Thx

RE: Administrator password by Patrick

Patrick
Wed Jan 04 15:21:01 CST 2006

Okay, so I'm one of those people who:

1) Have logged on to all of my servers with the administrator account; and,
2) Have services running on most of the servers that start with the
administrator account.

So, how do I go about changing the password without locking myself out?

Thanks!

"Ballyb" wrote:

> Nice 1, thanks.
>
> "David Davis" wrote:
>
> > I would recommend logging in as the domain administrator, hitting Ctl-Alt-Del
> > and using the change password utility. Be sure that you are not logged on
> > using this account on any other machine on the network. Also, make sure that
> > you are not running any services using this account. (not trying to insult
> > your intelligence, I have several clients that, in the past, have assigned
> > this account to a service) If you are logged elswhere on or have services
> > running and you change the password, then you will end up locking the Domain
> > Admin account.
> > --
> > David Davis, MCSE, CCNA, Security +
> > Network Engineer
> >
> >
> > "Ballyb" wrote:
> >
> > > Hi, We have been told we have to change our Domain Administrator password.
> > >
> > > Is this as simple as going into A/D and reseting the password or is there
> > > more involved.
> > >
> > > Any advice would be grateful.
> > >
> > > Thx

Re: Administrator password by Mr

Mr
Wed Jan 04 15:35:28 CST 2006

Well the great part about active directory is that you can have many domain
admin accounts.
What you should do is just make sure you have another account in the domain
that is also a domain admin / enterprise admin.
Change the password you want to change, and then make sure that each service
installed under that account password is changed corresponding with the
newly set password. There is no big deal. I can not count how many times I
have setup backups to run under my account, just to find them fail when I
changed my password.


"Patrick Lublin" <Patrick@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:2FB0A304-3318-4892-AF21-4FF185B48CAA@microsoft.com...
> Okay, so I'm one of those people who:
>
> 1) Have logged on to all of my servers with the administrator account;
> and,
> 2) Have services running on most of the servers that start with the
> administrator account.
>
> So, how do I go about changing the password without locking myself out?
>
> Thanks!
>
> "Ballyb" wrote:
>
>> Nice 1, thanks.
>>
>> "David Davis" wrote:
>>
>> > I would recommend logging in as the domain administrator, hitting
>> > Ctl-Alt-Del
>> > and using the change password utility. Be sure that you are not logged
>> > on
>> > using this account on any other machine on the network. Also, make sure
>> > that
>> > you are not running any services using this account. (not trying to
>> > insult
>> > your intelligence, I have several clients that, in the past, have
>> > assigned
>> > this account to a service) If you are logged elswhere on or have
>> > services
>> > running and you change the password, then you will end up locking the
>> > Domain
>> > Admin account.
>> > --
>> > David Davis, MCSE, CCNA, Security +
>> > Network Engineer
>> >
>> >
>> > "Ballyb" wrote:
>> >
>> > > Hi, We have been told we have to change our Domain Administrator
>> > > password.
>> > >
>> > > Is this as simple as going into A/D and reseting the password or is
>> > > there
>> > > more involved.
>> > >
>> > > Any advice would be grateful.
>> > >
>> > > Thx



Re: Administrator password by Miha

Miha
Wed Jan 04 16:23:33 CST 2006

Hi,

Personally I am not sure if it is great to have many domain admin accounts.
I usually try to keep this number as low as possible (1-3 accounts) in
environments that have around 300 people.

In most cases domain administrator accounts should only be used by people
who administer domain controllers.
Almost all other tasks can be done with other privileges. E.g. you don't
need to be domain administrator to do a backup. Backup Operator role is
enough. You can also delegate other permissions such as adding computers to
domain, creating users and groups etc... If you need to install something on
the server you can (should?) use local administrator account whenever
possible. Services that run under domain administrator account can be quite
a security risk. It is very easy to "dump" a password of such service
account in clear text (user would need to be local admin or have debug
permissions).

--
Mike
Microsoft MVP - Windows Security

"Mr. Backup" <backup@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:O2LPuaXEGHA.3004@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> Well the great part about active directory is that you can have many
> domain admin accounts.
> What you should do is just make sure you have another account in the
> domain that is also a domain admin / enterprise admin.
> Change the password you want to change, and then make sure that each
> service installed under that account password is changed corresponding
> with the newly set password. There is no big deal. I can not count how
> many times I have setup backups to run under my account, just to find them
> fail when I changed my password.
>
>
> "Patrick Lublin" <Patrick@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:2FB0A304-3318-4892-AF21-4FF185B48CAA@microsoft.com...
>> Okay, so I'm one of those people who:
>>
>> 1) Have logged on to all of my servers with the administrator account;
>> and,
>> 2) Have services running on most of the servers that start with the
>> administrator account.
>>
>> So, how do I go about changing the password without locking myself out?
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> "Ballyb" wrote:
>>
>>> Nice 1, thanks.
>>>
>>> "David Davis" wrote:
>>>
>>> > I would recommend logging in as the domain administrator, hitting
>>> > Ctl-Alt-Del
>>> > and using the change password utility. Be sure that you are not logged
>>> > on
>>> > using this account on any other machine on the network. Also, make
>>> > sure that
>>> > you are not running any services using this account. (not trying to
>>> > insult
>>> > your intelligence, I have several clients that, in the past, have
>>> > assigned
>>> > this account to a service) If you are logged elswhere on or have
>>> > services
>>> > running and you change the password, then you will end up locking the
>>> > Domain
>>> > Admin account.
>>> > --
>>> > David Davis, MCSE, CCNA, Security +
>>> > Network Engineer
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > "Ballyb" wrote:
>>> >
>>> > > Hi, We have been told we have to change our Domain Administrator
>>> > > password.
>>> > >
>>> > > Is this as simple as going into A/D and reseting the password or is
>>> > > there
>>> > > more involved.
>>> > >
>>> > > Any advice would be grateful.
>>> > >
>>> > > Thx
>
>



Re: Administrator password by Mr

Mr
Wed Jan 04 16:38:15 CST 2006

there is something you said "delegate other permissions such as adding
computers to
domain" I found out that any member of the domain my design can add other
machines to the domain, they dont need to be an admin. Just wanted to pop
that in... Strang but true.



Re: Administrator password by DavidDavis

DavidDavis
Wed Jan 04 16:41:04 CST 2006

Right on. If you are not used to following this policy, it will be difficult
to implement. However it is imperative that work toward using the LUA model:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/secnews/articles/lpuseacc.mspx
Many worms and malware are unable to distribute their intended payload when
executed under an account with least privilege therfore implementing this
policy further hardens your systems against new threats that may not have a
patch / definition.
--
David Davis [MCSE, CCNA, Security +]



"Miha Pihler [MVP]" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Personally I am not sure if it is great to have many domain admin accounts.
> I usually try to keep this number as low as possible (1-3 accounts) in
> environments that have around 300 people.
>
> In most cases domain administrator accounts should only be used by people
> who administer domain controllers.
> Almost all other tasks can be done with other privileges. E.g. you don't
> need to be domain administrator to do a backup. Backup Operator role is
> enough. You can also delegate other permissions such as adding computers to
> domain, creating users and groups etc... If you need to install something on
> the server you can (should?) use local administrator account whenever
> possible. Services that run under domain administrator account can be quite
> a security risk. It is very easy to "dump" a password of such service
> account in clear text (user would need to be local admin or have debug
> permissions).
>
> --
> Mike
> Microsoft MVP - Windows Security
>
> "Mr. Backup" <backup@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:O2LPuaXEGHA.3004@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> > Well the great part about active directory is that you can have many
> > domain admin accounts.
> > What you should do is just make sure you have another account in the
> > domain that is also a domain admin / enterprise admin.
> > Change the password you want to change, and then make sure that each
> > service installed under that account password is changed corresponding
> > with the newly set password. There is no big deal. I can not count how
> > many times I have setup backups to run under my account, just to find them
> > fail when I changed my password.
> >
> >
> > "Patrick Lublin" <Patrick@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> > news:2FB0A304-3318-4892-AF21-4FF185B48CAA@microsoft.com...
> >> Okay, so I'm one of those people who:
> >>
> >> 1) Have logged on to all of my servers with the administrator account;
> >> and,
> >> 2) Have services running on most of the servers that start with the
> >> administrator account.
> >>
> >> So, how do I go about changing the password without locking myself out?
> >>
> >> Thanks!
> >>
> >> "Ballyb" wrote:
> >>
> >>> Nice 1, thanks.
> >>>
> >>> "David Davis" wrote:
> >>>
> >>> > I would recommend logging in as the domain administrator, hitting
> >>> > Ctl-Alt-Del
> >>> > and using the change password utility. Be sure that you are not logged
> >>> > on
> >>> > using this account on any other machine on the network. Also, make
> >>> > sure that
> >>> > you are not running any services using this account. (not trying to
> >>> > insult
> >>> > your intelligence, I have several clients that, in the past, have
> >>> > assigned
> >>> > this account to a service) If you are logged elswhere on or have
> >>> > services
> >>> > running and you change the password, then you will end up locking the
> >>> > Domain
> >>> > Admin account.
> >>> > --
> >>> > David Davis, MCSE, CCNA, Security +
> >>> > Network Engineer
> >>> >
> >>> >
> >>> > "Ballyb" wrote:
> >>> >
> >>> > > Hi, We have been told we have to change our Domain Administrator
> >>> > > password.
> >>> > >
> >>> > > Is this as simple as going into A/D and reseting the password or is
> >>> > > there
> >>> > > more involved.
> >>> > >
> >>> > > Any advice would be grateful.
> >>> > >
> >>> > > Thx
> >
> >
>
>
>

Re: Administrator password by Miha

Miha
Wed Jan 04 16:47:32 CST 2006

Hi,

Yes, by default any authenticated user (user that has a valid username and
password in domain) can add up to 10 computers to domain. You can change
that in any way you want (e.g. remove these permissions from them or give
them permission to add more computers...). You can change this and have only
specific group of users (e.g. students) adding computers to domain (more
then 10).

Add workstations to domain
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/Windows/2000/server/reskit/en-us/Default.asp?url=/resources/documentation/Windows/2000/server/reskit/en-us/gp/526.asp

--
Mike
Microsoft MVP - Windows Security

"Mr. Backup" <backup@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:ecuGs8XEGHA.2380@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> there is something you said "delegate other permissions such as adding
> computers to
> domain" I found out that any member of the domain my design can add other
> machines to the domain, they dont need to be an admin. Just wanted to pop
> that in... Strang but true.
>