Changing Passwords on a ztC Endurance System

A ztC Endurance system requires four sets of passwords:

  • BMC Web console password for the Administrator user account

  • zenadmin password on the Standby OS

  • Windows Administrator password

  • ztC Endurance console​ and REST API password

This topic describes the purpose of these passwords and explains how to update them (when possible) after the installation. For password requirements and additional information, see Gathering Information.

Note: This procedure assumes that the current BMC Web Console passwords for BMC A and BMC B are identical.

To change the BMC Web console administrator account (admin) password: 

  1. Log in to Windows PowerShell as a user with Administrator rights.

  2. Stop the following services: 

    • Stratus Management Monitor Service

    • Stratus Management Service

  3. Log in to the BMC Web console for BMC A, as described in Logging In to the BMC Web Console.

  4. In the side panel, click Settings, then click User Management in the main display. The User Management page appears.

  5. On the User Management page, select Channel 1 from the Channel pulldown menu.

  6. Click to select the profile labeled admin/Administrator. The User Management Configuration page specific to the admin/Administrator profile appears.

  7. In the Logged-In Password field, enter the current password.

  8. Enable the Change Password checkbox.

  9. In the Password and Confirm Password fields, enter the new password.

    Note: Both BMCs must have an account with the username admin, and both BMCs must use the same administrator password.

  10. Under Enable Channel Access, ensure that Channel 1, Channel 2, Channel 7, and Channel 8 are all selected.

  11. Scroll down and click Save.

  12. Repeat steps 3 through 11 on BMC B.

  13. Notify the system-management software as described in the following instructions.
    14. Notice: The system-management software uses the same password for IPMIClosed Intelligent Platform Management Interface. A set of standardized specifications for hardware-level management of computer servers accesses to the BMC. Therefore, if you do not notify the system-management software of a password change, any attempts to access the BMC by the system-management software results in a failure.

To notify the system-management software

  1. Log in to Windows Server and launch PowerShell as a user with Administrator rights.

  2. At the command prompt, cd to C:\Program Files\Stratus\bin\.

  3. Run the following command:

    .\cfgpasswd.exe --bmcadmin

    Note: Incorrect use of the cfgpasswd command can result in inconsistent BMC Web console passwords.
    Note: The cfgpasswd command does not change the password; rather, it notifies the system-management software of the change.

  4. At the prompts, enter the new BMC administrator password that you created in the BMC Web console.

    The following example shows how to use the cfgpasswd command.

    PS c:\Program Files\Stratus\bin>.\cfgpasswd.exe --bmcadmin
Enter value for BMC admin password: xxxxxxx
Confirm value for BMC admin password: xxxxxxx
Updated BMC admin password
Installed new C:\Program Files\Stratus\install\install-config.json
Changes will be applied to sra-mgmt config at next service start.
Configured password for zenadmin account is correct on current Standby server.
PS c:\Program Files\Stratus\bin>

  5. Restart management services and verify access as described in the following instructions.

To restart management services and verify access:

  1. Start the following services: 

    • Stratus Management Monitor Service

    • Stratus Management Service

  2. Wait for five minutes.

  3. Log in to the BMC Web console for both BMC A and BMC B, as described in Logging In to the BMC Web Console, and verify that you are able to log in as an Administrator with the new password.

The system-management software uses the Ubuntu operating system zenadmin account on the Standby OS for BeyondTrust installation and configuration, support logs, and software upgrades.

Notice: Both Standby OSes require the same password for the zenadmin account.

To change the zenadmin account password

  1. Change the password for each Ubuntu instance with the Linux passwd command:

    1. From the Windows host or a management PC, use the ssh command to connect to each Standby OS (for example, ssh username@hostname). Note that you must perform a Smart Exchange​ to connect to each Standby OS.

    2. Change the password with the Linux passwd command:

      /usr/bin/passwd zenadmin

  2. Notify system management about the new password created in the previous steps:

    1. From the Windows Host, in Windows PowerShell, run the following command:

      & 'C:\Program Files\Stratus\bin\cfgpasswd.exe' --zenadmin

    2. At the prompt, enter the new password.

      Note: The cfgpassword command does not change passwords. It simply stores an encrypted copy of the password for the management software to use when it needs to access the account protected by the password.

  3. Verify the password on the current Standby OS by running the following command on the Windows host:

    & 'C:\Program Files\Stratus\bin\cfgpasswd.exe' --verify

For information about changing the Windows Administrator password, see the Windows documentation provided on the Microsoft website.

Note: ztC Endurance does not use the Windows Administrator password, but does check its complexity during network configuration. For this reason, the Windows Administrator password must also meet the password requirements described in the Password Settings table.

To change ztC Endurance console​ usernames and passwords, use the ztC Endurance console​ as described in Managing User Accounts.

The REST API uses the same usernames and passwords.

Notice: If you change the usernames and passwords, any external application using the REST API must change its usernames and passwords to match.