Re: Requiring domain password change



Thanks for the response. I'm ready to receive a number of support calls when
we implement the new password change so I don't mind doing it in one big
swoop.

- So, if I tell some users to change their passwords manually, let's say 7
days before I reset the Maximum Password Age (I'll probably switch our
current setting from 0 to 365 days), those users won't be required to change
their passwords again for 358 days, right?

- Also, if the user is logged on while the Maximum Password Age is changed
will they still have access to their network resources (Exchange, network
drives, SQL sessions) or will they be denied access from those resources
until they log back on and change their password.

Thanks again!



"Richard Mueller [MVP]" wrote:


"Davidi" <Davidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:E598FB69-C36D-49B8-AE20-B3A7078E3103@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I want to require all domain users (except users accounts with passwords
that
do not expire) to change their password on a specific day. I understand
that
I need to set it from the Default Domain Policy but I'm not 100% sure that
it's the "Maxium Password Age" setting that I need to change. Currently
the
maximum password age is set to 0 so we don't require users to change their
passwords on set interval.

- Let's say today is Monday and I want them to change their network
passwords on Thursday. Would I need to change the "maximum password age"
to
3 or 4 days? Is the timestamp for this value set once I change the value
from 0 to 3?

- And if I don't want the passwords to expire again after I change the
value
to 3 or 4, I would assume I need to set it back to value 0 once everyone
changes their password.

- Also, is there a way to set Windows to warn the user a day or two before
they have to change their password?

Thanks.

If in the past you have had no password age requirements, then everyone's
password was last set long ago. As soon as you assign a password age of a
few days, almost everyone's password will be older than this value (unless
the account was created and the initial password was set in the last few
days). Everyone's password will be expired the next time they log on. I
think you need to assign a password age on the day when passwords will
expire. However, this means there will be a crush that day, as everyone's
password will expire and users that are not used to this will call for
support all at once.

A better approach might be to assign an extremely large value for maximum
password age (not 0), so that no one's password will be expired. Then
somehow divide your users into reasonable sized groups (maybe by OU or group
membership). Then run a script or utility to expire the passwords for only
the users in one of the groups. This is done by assigning the value 0 to the
pwdLastSet attribute of the user object. This value is so far in the past
that the password will be expired no matter how large the maximum password
age policy is. If the groups are of reasonable size, the support requests
will be manageable. Perhaps expire the passwords for one group per week.
After everyone has had their password expired, you can reassign a more
reasonable value for maximum password age.

--
Richard Mueller
MVP Directory Services
Hilltop Lab - http://www.rlmueller.net
--



.



Relevant Pages

  • Requiring domain password change
    ... I want to require all domain users (except users accounts with passwords that ... it's the "Maxium Password Age" setting that I need to change. ... Would I need to change the "maximum password age" to ... And if I don't want the passwords to expire again after I change the value ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.active_directory)
  • Re: Requiring domain password change
    ... I need to set it from the Default Domain Policy but I'm not 100% sure that ... it's the "Maxium Password Age" setting that I need to change. ... Would I need to change the "maximum password age" ... And if I don't want the passwords to expire again after I change the ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.active_directory)
  • Re: AD 2000, Blank passwords, and Group Policy
    ... maximum password age to short duration such as ten days [temporarily of course, ... It may help if you have the users specify the domain name when they logon ... Shortening the maximum password age would force ... > I'm connecting remotely via Kerio's VPN service. ...
    (microsoft.public.win2000.security)
  • Re: Default Domain Policy - Password Chg 90 days
    ... There are certain accounts that have ... The default domain policy has maximum password age under computer ... user - it is NOT being done through local GPOs. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.active_directory)
  • Re: Implementing strong password policy
    ... policy, did they disable the built-in password policy? ... - Change the maximum password age. ... password age to some pretty high value, let's say 300, to catch the first ... batch of "old password" people and let them change their passwords. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.server.active_directory)