Services and the admin account 2

[guggle]

I've inherited three NT4 servers (on a domain) where a lot of the services login using the Administrator account. Being a Netware person, I'm not too sure of the consequences of changing the Admin password. If I do, will the services not start at the next reboot, will they stop immediately, or will they continue to work regardless? What if I changed the services to log in with the System account instead? Of particular interest are the Exchange v5.5 services. Would someone please advise...

 

[Spirit]

I would create a new account something like Mailman then change all services to use this account there is an easy way in the Exchange Admin but always check manually too just to be safe.

I'd do the same for any other services on any other servers i.e. Backup, Antivirus etc.

But when you change the admin password you HAVE to change it for EVERY service that uses that Account.

Lots of work but IT HAS TO BE DONE. Who else knows the admin password no one you know of but don't leave it to chance!

Iain

 

[guggle]

Thanks Iain. I suspected that was the case but needed to hear it from someone else.

Thanks again!

 

[mugs82]

I am in the same situation. Do the changes need to be made on each domain controller or just the PDC?

 

[Grenage]

Any machine that has services using the domain.administrator credentials will need to be looked at.

You only need to change the password for the account itself on one machine (it will replicate across as with any user).

 

[Spirit]

When I say every service I mean it! Every single service on every single server. Some Apps can do this process for you Veritas, Exchange but I would always check them.

Change the password stop and restart the service, make sure it starts then change all the others on that service. I would then bounce the server and check the event logs to ensure that none failed to start.

Iain

P.S. Thanks!