Change passwords used for administration accounts (SharePoint Server 2010)
Applies to: SharePoint Server 2010, SharePoint Foundation 2010
Certain Microsoft SharePoint Server services and features must be associated with a Windows account in order to run. If the account has a password -- that is, if the account is anything other than the Local System account, the Local Service account, or the Network Service account -- then the password in SharePoint Server must be updated whenever the account's password changes.
There are two ways to keep passwords synchronized between Windows and SharePoint Server: automatically and manually. To synchronize passwords automatically you can register managed accounts and configure SharePoint Server to change the managed accounts' passwords according to a schedule. SharePoint Server automatically generates a new password, updates the password in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), and propagates the changes to other servers in the farm. For more information about managed accounts, see Plan automatic password change (SharePoint Server 2010).
Warning
Windows Server 2008 R2 includes managed accounts at the operating system level. Do not use Windows Server 2008 R2 managed accounts. They are not compatible with SharePoint Server managed accounts.
We recommend that you use SharePoint Server managed accounts when possible. You can use managed accounts to control the passwords for the following things:
Central administration
Timer service
Service applications
Application pools
When managed accounts are unsuitable, you must change passwords in SharePoint Server manually when the passwords change in AD DS. Passwords must be changed manually for the following things:
SQL Server services
The default content access account
Credentials that are used to access external data sources and are stored in the Secure Store service application. (See Configure the Secure Store Service (SharePoint Server 2010) for more information about how to change credentials to access external data sources.)
The articles in this section contain procedures for changing the passwords for accounts that SharePoint Server uses. In this section:
Configure automatic password change (SharePoint Server 2010)
Change passwords for SQL Server services (SharePoint Server 2010)
Change the password for the default content access account (SharePoint Server 2010)