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Campus Active Directory - Reset Secure Channel

Problems with a host's secure channel can be responsible for a number of authentication issues.

Each host that is joined to Active Directory maintains a local secret, or password, that is created by the client and stored in Active Directory. The client will initiate a password change every 30 days by default. Active Directory will store the current password as well as the previous password in the computer object for the joined host. Each time the client creates a new password, it creates the new password locally and stores it in the registry and then attempts to update the password in Active Directory. If the Active Directory password update is unsuccessful, the client keeps the newly created password and continues to attempt updating the Active Directory password.

If the client attempts to authenticate and Active Directory does not have the most recent password it will utilize the previous password. If the password used by the client to authenticate to Active Directory is newer than both passwords stored in the computer object, or the computer object is deleted, the authentication request will fail and the client will show the following error: "The trust relationship between this workstation and the primary domain failed."

It is possible to reset the computer password using the nltest.exe, dsmod.exe, netdom.exe, or the PowerShell cmdlets Test-ComputerSecureChannel and Reset-MachineAccountPassword. The netdom command and the PowerShell cmdlets will be covered in this document.

Netdom

In order to use the netdom tool you must have Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) installed.

  • Download and install RSAT
  • Go to Control Panel -> Programs and Features -> Turn Windows features on or off
  • Select Remote Server Administration Tools -> Role Administration Tools -> AD DS and AD LDS Tools and select AD DS Tools
  • Click Ok

To reset the computer's password:

  • Log into the affected client with a local account with administrative privileges
  • Open an elevated PowerShell or Command prompt
  • Run the Netdom command
    netdom.exe resetpwd /s:CADSDC-PROD-01.ad.wisc.edu /ud:ad\jsmith-ou /pd:*
    • The user specified with the "/ud:" must have rights to change the computer object password
    • The "/pd:*" switch will hide the entered password
  • Reboot

PowerShell v2 - Test-ComputerSecureChannel

  • Log into the affected client with a local account with administrative privileges
  • Open an elevated PowerShell prompt
  • Load the Active Directory PowerShell module
    Import-Module activedirectory
  • Test the secure channel
    Test-ComputerSecureChannel
  • If the command returns false, run the command with the "-Repair" switch
    Test-ComputerSecureChannel -Repair -Credential $(Get-Credential)
  • verify the secure channel using the Test-ComputerSecureChannel
    Test-ComputerSecureChannel
  • Reboot

PowerShell v3 or higher - Reset-MachineAccountPassword

  • Log into the affected client with a local account with administrative privileges
  • Open an elevated PowerShell prompt
  • Load the Active Directory PowerShell module
    Import-Module activedirectory
  • Test the secure channel
    Test-ComputerSecureChannel
  • If the command returns false, run the Reset-MachineAccountPassword command
    Reset-MachineAccountPassword -Credential $(Get-Credential)
  • verify the secure channel using the Test-ComputerSecureChannel
    Test-ComputerSecureChannel
  • Reboot

References



Keywordsthe trust relationship between this workstation and the primary domain failed active directory powershell netdom nltest   Doc ID35112
OwnerMST SupportGroupIdentity and Access Management
Created2013-11-04 17:18:17Updated2022-05-12 10:55:03
SitesIdentity and Access Management
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