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Change passwords for Central Administration and the Timer service (Search Server 2008)

  • Article

Applies To: Microsoft Search Server 2008

 

Topic Last Modified: 2009-05-22

Note

Unless otherwise noted, the information in this article applies to both Microsoft Search Server 2008 and Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express.

Use the appropriate procedure in this article to change passwords for the application pool for the Central Administration Web site and the Windows SharePoint Services Timer service. The application pool and the Timer service store the credential information and continue to function even after the password has expired. However, if the application pool or the Timer service restarts, the stored credential information is lost, and the application pool or the Timer service cannot be started until the credential information is updated.

If the application pool cannot start, a “Service Unavailable” HTTP error will be displayed to the users of any Web pages or services that the Web application provides. If the Timer service cannot start, timer jobs will not be completed. This will cause a variety of failures.

Note

  • These procedures can be performed only after the password has been changed on the domain controller. The credentials entered are checked against those on the domain controller. If you enter the new password before the password has been changed on the domain controller, an error will result and the settings will not be changed.

  • To save the changes, you must restart the application pool and the Timer service. This will cause the content or services that they provide to be momentarily unavailable while the application pool and the Timer service restart.

  • There is no graphical user interface for these procedures. You must use the command line to perform these password changes. Do not attempt to change the passwords using Windows Service Manager.

Important

Membership in the Administrators group on the local computer is required to complete the following procedures. Membership in the Farm Administrators group is not sufficient to complete these procedures.

To change the passwords if you have access to Central Administration

Change the passwords for the Central Administration application pool identity and the Windows SharePoint Services Timer service by using the command line

  1. On the computer running the Central Administration Web site, at a command prompt, change to the following directory: %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft shared\Web server extensions\12\Bin.

  2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:

    stsadm -o updatefarmcredentials –userlogin <domain\username> -password <newpassword>

    Note

    userlogin is the server farm account.
    For additional information, see Updatefarmcredentials: Stsadm operation (Office SharePoint Server).

  3. You must restart IIS to save the changes. At a command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

    iisreset /noforce

To change the passwords if you receive a "Service Unavailable" error when trying to access Central Administration

Change the passwords for the Central Administration application pool identity and the Windows SharePoint Services Timer service by using the command line

  1. On the computer running the Central Administration Web site, at a command prompt, change to the following directory: %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft shared\Web server extensions\12\Bin.

  2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER:

    stsadm -o updatefarmcredentials –userlogin <domain\username> -password <newpassword>

    Note

    userlogin is the server farm account.
    For additional information, see Updatefarmcredentials: Stsadm operation (Office SharePoint Server).

  3. You must restart IIS to save the changes. At a command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

    iisreset /noforce

  4. On every other server in the farm, change to the following directory: %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\Microsoft shared\Web server extensions\12\Bin.

  5. At a command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

    stsadm -o updatefarmcredentials –userlogin <domain\username> -password <newpassword> -local

    Note

    userlogin is the server farm account. You must use the -local switch.
    For additional information, see Updatefarmcredentials: Stsadm operation (Office SharePoint Server).

See Also

Concepts

Change passwords for administration accounts and service accounts (Search Server 2008)
Change passwords for SQL Server services (Search Server 2008)
Change passwords for the Search service accounts (Search Server 2008)
Change the password for the Shared Services Provider (Search Server 2008)
Change the password for the content access account (Search Server 2008)
Change the password for an application pool identity (Search Server 2008)