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NetWorker: How to reset Administrator password

Summary: This KB provides an overview of how to reset the NetWorker Administrator account password.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.

Instructions

How to reset administrator password when NetWorker server is on Linux:


You can also view this video on YouTube .

How to reset administrator password when NetWorker server is on Windows:

You can also view this video on YouTube .

 

NetWorker Authentication

The Administrator password is configured in the NetWorker authentication database. Usually the authentication (authc) server is the same host as the NetWorker server; however, environments can be configured to manage multiple NetWorker servers from a single NetWorker authentication server.

If there is more than one NetWorker Server managed by a single NetWorker Management Console (NMC) server, identify the NetWorker server whose AuthC server NMC is using to authenticate. On the NMC server, check the gstd.conf file for the authsvc_hostname.
  • Windows: C:\Program Files\EMC NetWorker\Management\GST\etc\gstd.conf
  • Linux: /opt/lgtonmc/etc/gstd.conf
[root@nmcserver ~]# cat /opt/lgtonmc/etc/gstd.conf | grep hostname
    string authsvc_hostname = "nwserver-a1.emclab.local";
 
WARNING: Since this procedure resets the central and generic Administrator account for at least one datazone, administrators should avoid its use. The intent of AuthC is to ensure that true authentication takes place immediately after NetWorker setup, it is recommended to configure actual user accounts or integrate external authority (AD/LDAP) so that NetWorker activities are traceable to specific users. The Additional Info field on this KB contains links to knowledge resources for integrating AD or LDAP with NetWorker.
 

Resetting the administrator password

1. To reset the administrator password, create a JSON file on the NetWorker server that contains the new password in a Base64 encoded format. This process differs on Linux and Windows operating systems, follow only the procedure for your authentication server's operating system.

Windows Authentication Server
 

a. On the authentication server, create a text file and specify the password value in clear text, on one line. For example, create a file that is called mypassword_in.txt. The contents of this file are "1.Password".

NOTE: This is the temporary password. This value can be changed from the NetWorker Management Console once the password is set. 
 

b. Open an admin command prompt in the directory the mypassword_in.txt file was created.

c. Use the certutil.exe command to create a Base64 encoded password for the password value that is defined in the mypassword_in.txt file. For example:

certutil.exe -encode mypassword_in.txt mypassword_out.txt

The contents of the mypassword_out.txt file should be created containing the base64 encoded value for 1.Password. e.g:
-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
MS5QYXNzd29yZA==
-----END CERTIFICATE-----

Linux Authentication Server

a. On the authentication server, run the following command:

echo -n '1.Password' | base64

NOTE: This is the temporary password. This value can be changed from the NetWorker Management Console once the password is set. Single-quote must be used for encasing the password; if no quotes are used special characters may be invalid. 

The command returns the base64 encoded value for the plain text password. 
e.g: MS5QYXNzd29yZA==

 

2. Create a copy of the authc-local-config.json.template file, which is located:

Windows: C:\Program Files\EMC NetWorker\nsr\authc-server\scripts  
Linux: /opt/nsr/authc-server/scripts

3. In the authc-local-config.json.template.copy file, perform the following steps:

a. Replace the username variable with Administrator. 
b. Replace the encoded_password variable with the base64 encoded password value. For example:

{
"local_users": [
{
"user name": "administrator",
"password": "MS5QYXNzd29yZA=="
}]
}

4. Rename the authc-local-config.json.template.copy file to authc-local-config.json.

5. Copy the authc-local-config.json file to the Tomcat conf folder. By default, the conf folder is located:

Windows: C:\Program Files\EMC NetWorker\authc-server\tomcat\conf
Linux: /nsr/authc/conf 

Linux Authentication Server

a. Change privileges on the authc-local-config.json file:

chmod 755 /nsr/authc/conf/authc-local-config.json

NOTE: If you do not change the privileges, the authc-server.log displays an error indicating that you do not have the necessary permissions to open the file. No changes are needed on Windows Authentication server. 
 

6. Stop and then start the services on the NetWorker server:

Windows Authentication Server

a. From an Administrative command prompt run

net stop nsrexecd
net start nsrd

If the NetWorker server is also the NMC server, start the NMC server service. Type the following commands: net start gstd

Linux Authentication Server

a. From a root command prompt run:

nsr_shutdown
systemctl start networker

7. When the NetWorker Authentication Service starts, the startup process checks for the authc-local-config.json. If the file exists and the password adheres to the minimum password policy requirements defined for a password, the NetWorker Authentication Service resets the password. Review the authc-server.log file located:

Windows: C:\Program Files\EMC NetWorker\authc\tomcat\logs
Linux: /nsr/authc/logs

NOTE: The startup process automatically deletes the authc-local-config.json file to ensure that the password is not reset the next time that you restart the NetWorker Authentication Service. 

8. Use the authc_mgmt command on the authc server to verify that authentication with the new password succeeds:

 

authc_mgmt -u administrator -p "1.Password" -e find-all-users

For example:

authc_mgmt -u administrator -p "1.Password" -e find-all-users
The query returns 2 records.
User Id User Name
1000 administrator
1001 svc_nmc_networker

9. Log in to the NetWorker Management Console using the new password.

Additional Information

Affected Products

NetWorker, NetWorker Management Console

Products

NetWorker Management Console
Article Properties
Article Number: 000014714
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 20 May 2024
Version:  6
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