How to set a user's password with Ldifde (263991)

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The password attribute used by Active Directory is "unicodePwd." This attribute can be written under restricted conditions, but cannot be read. This attribute can only be modified, not added on object creation or read by a search. To modify this attribute, the client must have a 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection to the server. The High Encryption pack must be installed on both the client and the server. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Note When you use a base-64 encoder, you must make sure that it supports Unicode, or you will create an incorrect password.

There are two ways to modify the unicodePwd attribute. The first is analogous to a typical user change-password operation. In this case, the modify request must contain both a delete operation and an add operation. The delete operation must contain the current password enclosed in quotation marks and be Base64 encoded as described in RFC 1521. The add operation must contain the new password enclosed in quotation marks and be Base64 encoded.

The second way to modify the attribute is analogous to an administrator resetting a password for a user. To do this, the client must have bound as an administrator a user who has sufficient rights to modify other users' passwords. The modify request should contain a single replace operation with the new password enclosed in quotation marks and be Base64 encoded. If the client has sufficient rights, this password becomes the new password regardless of what the old password was.

The following sample Ldif file (chPwd.ldif) changes a password to newPassword: To import the chPwd.ldif file, use the following command: For additional information, see the following documents: Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find technical support. This contact information may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this third-party contact information.