Microsoft KB Archive/165384

= HOWTO: How to Change the User Password Remotely and from Batch Files =

Article ID: 165384

Article Last Modified on 11/1/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51
 * Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition
 * Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51
 * Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q165384



SUMMARY
This article describes how to change a password remotely and how to change a collection of user passwords from a batch file.



MORE INFORMATION
Currently, a user's password can be changed in any of the following ways:  Use User Manager to change a user's password. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, and then click Change Password while you are logged on to the computer. Type the following command from a member server or workstation in the domain:

net user 



The sample code below can be compiled with Microsoft Visual C++ and returns, through the standard output, the result of the change password request using standard message formats.

CPW.C

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Demonstrate the use of NetUserChangePassword to change the password for a specific user account.

Microsoft provides examples of Visual C++ code for illustration only, without warranty either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. The Visual C++ code in this article are provided "as is" and Microsoft does not guarantee that they can be used in all situations. While Microsoft Technical Support (MTS) Engineers can help explain the functionality, they will not modify these examples to provide added functionality, nor will they help you construct programs to meet your specific needs. If you have limited programming experience, you may want to consult one of the Microsoft Solution Providers. Solution Providers offer a wide range of fee-based services, including creating custom programs. For more information about Microsoft Solution Providers, call Microsoft Customer Information Service at (800) 426-9400 or your local Microsoft Subsidiary.

Limitations:

Passwords are exposed.

Standard error checking on the output NET_STATUS_API.

Does not support blank passwords.

// start of code


 * 1) include 
 * 2) include 
 * 3) include 
 * 4) include 
 * 5) include 
 * 6) include <LMCONS.H>


 * 1) define MAX_LENGTH 32
 * 2) define MAX_MSG_BUF_SIZE 32768

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {     // DNLEN, UNLEN and PWLEN are constants from LMCONS.H int changePasswordStatus;   // buffer for the change password result WCHAR domainname[DNLEN+1]; // buffer for the domain or workstation name WCHAR username[UNLEN+1];   // buffer for the user name WCHAR oldpassword[PWLEN+1]; // buffer for the old password WCHAR newpassword[PWLEN+1]; // buffer for the new password CHAR *msgBuf;              // buffer for message text from system int msgOutPut;             // buffer to capture the result of                             // FormatMessage for // future use

// determine whether the number of parameters is correct // if not then display the proper syntax

if (argc < 2 || argc > 5) {   printf ("The syntax of the command is incorrect.\n"); printf ("\ncpw domainname username oldpassword newpassword\n"); return 0; }

//convert all of the parameters from ANSI to UNICODE

MultiByteToWideChar(    CP_ACP,               // code page     0,           // character-type options     argv[1],        // address of string to map     strlen(argv[1])+1,    // number of characters in string inc null!!     (LPWSTR)&domainname,  // address of wide-character buffer     sizeof(domainname)    // size of buffer    );

MultiByteToWideChar(    CP_ACP,       // code page     0,            // character-type options     argv[2],         // address of string to map     strlen(argv[2])+1,  // number of characters in string inc null!!     (LPWSTR)&username,     // address of wide-character buffer     sizeof(username)       // size of buffer    );

MultiByteToWideChar(    CP_ACP,       // code page     0,            // character-type options     argv[3],         // address of string to map     strlen(argv[3])+1,      // number of characters in string inc null!!     (LPWSTR)&oldpassword,  // address of wide-character buffer     sizeof(oldpassword)    // size of buffer    );

MultiByteToWideChar(    CP_ACP,       // code page     0,            // character-type options     argv[4],         // address of string to map     strlen(argv[4])+1,     // number of characters in string inc null!!     (LPWSTR)&newpassword,  // address of wide-character buffer     sizeof(newpassword)    // size of buffer    );

// NetUserChangePassword expects UNICODE // which is why we used the MultiByteToWideChar // to convert from ANSI to UNICODE.

changePasswordStatus = NetUserChangePassword(   domainname, // pointer to server or domain name string    username,   // pointer to user name string    oldpassword,   // pointer to old password string    newpassword // pointer to new password string   );

// FormatMessage is beyond the scope of this // article for detailed information on the use of         // FormatMessage, please refer to the on-line // Documentation in Microsoft Visual C++

msgOutPut = FormatMessage(FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_SYSTEM |      FORMAT_MESSAGE_ALLOCATE_BUFFER | FORMAT_MESSAGE_IGNORE_INSERTS |       40, NULL, changePasswordStatus, MAKELANGID(LANG_ENGLISH, SUBLANG_ENGLISH_US), (LPTSTR) &msgBuf, MAX_MSG_BUF_SIZE,      NULL      );

printf("\n%s\n", msgBuf); // Print the error message generated by FormatMessage

} // end of code (do not include this line in the actual code)

Additional query words: NetUserChangePassword change password

Keywords: kbapi kbhowto kbnetwork KB165384

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