SMS Client service account password is reset every 30 days (816296)

MORE INFORMATION

With SMS 2.0 Service Pack 5 (SP5), the SMS Client service has been modified to automatically change its password every 30 days. Two registry values are now available in the SMS client registry to control this process. Both registry keys are in the following location on the client: The two new values are described in the following table:

Registry Key	Key Type	Description
Service Reset Interval	DWORD value	The time between changing the password in seconds
Last Service Reset	DWORD value	The time the password was last changed

The first value, Service Reset Interval, must be created manually. This key is used to change the default 30-day interval.

Note Although you can set this value to as low as 1 second, the actual interval will depend on the service interval of the SMS Client service. By default, the SMS Client Service will execute this process every 2 hours.

The second value, Last Service Reset, is automatically created and set by the SMS Client service. To force a password change, modify the Service Reset Interval, and then manually start a Client Configuration Installation Manager (CCIM) cycle. To force a CCIM cycle on the client computer, use one of the following methods:

• Restart the client computer.
  
• Stop and restart the SMS Client service.
  
  To do this on a Windows 2000 client:
  1. Click Start, click Settings, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Services.
  3. Stop and then restart the SMS Client Service.
  To do this on a Windows XP client:
  1. Click Start, and then click Performance and Maintenance (in Category view).
  2. Click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Services.
  3. Stop and then restart the SMS Client Service.
• Wait 23 hours. The CCIM cycle will start automatically.

Note If the clock on the client computer is set to a future date during the upgrade to SP5 and then restored to the current time, the SMS Client Service account password may not be reset. In this scenario, the value for Last Service Reset in the client registry is set to a future value. The password will not be reset until the client clock reaches this future date.WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk. To resolve this issue, change the Last Service Reset key in the client registry to 0.

The Last Service Reset value is a CTime structure that represents the number of seconds that have passed since midnight Coordinated Universal Time, January 1, 1970. Use the Cvtime.exe utility to convert this value to a readable time. The output that is returned from the utility varies with the time zone.