Access Manager Agent - Password settings page
The Password settings
page provides the ability to configure how Access Manager Agent passwords are encrypted, and provides the ability to configure word lists for use in constructing passphrases.
Encryption certificates
AMS registered devices encrypt their passwords using a certificate provided by the AMS server. When a password change is required, the AMS server will provide the device with the public key of the active
certificate, and it will use that key to encrypt the password.
When configuring LAPS for the first time, you'll need to create an encryption certificate, making sure to back it up to a location where it will be kept safe and secure.
If the encryption certificate is lost, passwords stored in the AMS database are unrecoverable.
List columns
Subject
Shows the friendly name of the certificate
Issued
Shows the date that the certificate was generated
Expiry
Shows the date that the certificate will expire
Is Active
Indicates whether the certificate is active. Only the active certificate is used by clients to encrypt their passwords
Generating a new encryption certificate
At any time you can generate a new encryption certificate by clicking the Generate new
button. Clients will not use this new certificate until you mark it as active.
If there are previously used certificates shown here, don't remove them. If clients have encrypted their passwords or password history with these old certificates, the AMS service will need them to be able to decrypt them.
Backing up the private key
It is imperative that you have a safe and secure backup of your encryption keys. Select a certificate to back up and click View Certificate
. From the Details
tab, click Copy to file...
. This will launch the export certificate wizard, which will allow you to export the certificate and private key to a PFX file. Choose a strong password for the PFX, and store the file somewhere safe. It's best to have multiple copies of the file, including an 'offline' copy.
See the guide on restoring an encryption certificate from backup for details on how to restore an existing key from a backup.
If you've lost the private key, you can force the agents to set new passwords and encrypt them with a new key by reading the recovering from a lost encryption certificate guide. Unfortunately, there is no way to recover the encrypted password history.
Passphrase word lists
When Access Manager Agent policies are configured to generate passphrases for use with local administrator accounts, they do so using word lists - lists of thousands of unique words that are delivered to clients in order for them to generate secure passphrases.
By default, Access Manager comes bundled with one word list: the EFF diceware wordlist from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, containing 7776 unique English words for use in passphrases.
If, for example, you wish to generate passphrases in a language better suited to your user base, you can import your own word lists with which Access Manager can generate passphrases.
You can find a list of "diceware" word lists in other languages for use with Access Manager here.
Importing word lists
To import a word list, first select Add...
at the bottom of the "Passphrase word lists" section of the page.
Name
A name for the word list, used in Agent Policy configuration
Description
A description for the word list
Language
Select a language for the word list
Words
In order to add words to a word list, you can click the Import words from txt file
button in the bottom right-hand corner of the window.
This file should be formatted such that there is one word per line in ASCII-format (no special characters); and at least 2,000 words are included.
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