How to expose the IUSR password if lost

over 13 years ago | Article no. 3756

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THIS ARTICLE APPLIES TO:

All versions of Knowledgebase

PROCESS:

How to Use Adsutil.vbs

IIS provides a script file named Adsutil.vbs that you can use to obtain or set the passwords of the IUSR and IWAM accounts to or from the IIS metabase. In Windows 2000 and 2003, Adsutil.vbs is located in the \Inetpub\Adminscripts folder.

Remove Encryption

Note: The password is encrypted in Windows 2000 and 2003, so when you run the command it will appear as asterisks. To obtain the password in clear text, you must modify Adsutil.vbs so that it displays the unmasked password. To do this, follow these steps:

1. In Notepad, open Adsutil.vbs.

2. On the Edit menu, click Find, type IsSecureProperty = True, and then click Find Next.

3. Change "IsSecureProperty = True" to "IsSecureProperty = False".

4. Save the changes to Adsutil.vbs, and then close Notepad.

Function Syntax

To obtain the IUSR account password:

cscript.exe adsutil.vbs get w3svc/anonymoususerpass

To obtain the IWAM account password:

cscript.exe adsutil.vbs get w3svc/wamuserpass

To set the IUSR account password:

cscript.exe adsutil.vbs set w3svc/anonymoususerpass "password"

To set the IWAM account password:

cscript.exe adsutil.vbs set w3svc/wamuserpass "password"

AFFECTED SYSTEMS & USERS:

System Administrators that have misplaced the IUSR password.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Reasons for executing this procedure include (but are not limited to) new administrators taking over for a previous administrator who has not left adequate documentation.

ESCALATION PROCEDURE:

If you have difficulties with this procedure, please contact our Support team at 877-373-7848 (option 2) or by email at CIMSupport@moxiesoft.com.