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Step-by-step Implementation of Local Administrator Password Randomization Script

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Since the documentation was a bit sparse on my script in my previous post, I thought I’d post clearer instructions, for those not as familiar with Group Policy. This post is going live with my guest Tech Segment on PaulDotCom today.

Assumptions

For this implementation guide, I assume you have an Active Directory domain and several clients to manage. You’ll also need to do your work from a machine with Group Policy Editor, and either the correct delegated permissions or Domain Admin privileges. If there are any instructions that are unclear, leave a comment and I’ll update the post.

1. Download script

Please download the randomize-local-admin.vbs script from my GitHub (right-click, Save Link As…) and save it your Desktop or another accessible location. You’ll need this shortly.

2. Create the Group Policy Object

Open up Group Policy Management Console, browse to the Group Policy Objects folder, then right-click on it and create a new Group Policy Object.

Name it something recognizable such as “Local Administrator Password Randomization”, then right-click and Edit it.

Now browse to Computer Configuration -> Policies -> Windows Settings and double-click on Startup. This is where we’ll set the script to run on boot.

Once the new window pops up, click Show Files to open the GPO’s directory and copy the VBScript (randomize-local-admin.vbs) inside. Make sure it has the right extension, or Windows won’t recognize it as a VBScript.

Now add the script to the Group Policy Object by clicking Add and selecting the script.

3. Create the WMI Filter (optional)

The intent of this script is to randomize local Administrator accounts on desktops and member servers, but domain controllers don’t have local accounts. So as to not randomize the builtin Domain Admin account, we’ll need to exclude DC’s, either via the Organization Units (OU’s) we target or by WMI Filters. If your Active Directory OU structure isn’t built with separate areas for Domain Controllers, or you want to link the entire domain, we can use a WMI Filter to exclude all machines classified as DC’s.

Under WMI Filters, right-click and click New. Right a name and description (“Exclude Domain Controllers” seems reasonable) and then click Add. You’ll need the following WMI Filter:

select * from Win32_OperatingSystem where ProductType <> “2″

4. Link the GPO to the proper OU’s

Now that we’ve created the GPO and its WMI Filter, we can link it to an Organizational Unit. First, though, you’ll need to associate the WMI filter if you created one. After clicking on the Group Policy Object, select the WMI filter from the lower side of the right pane, under WMI Filtering.

Right-click an existing OU which has systems you’d like to target and click “Link an Existing GPO…”. Select the GPO you just created, and it will take effect on the next reboot on all Computer objects in that OU. You can select other OU’s in the same way.

To make an acceptable level of overkill, this script creates 120-character passwords using the full ASCII character set (1-255).

Again, if you have any issues feel free to leave a comment or send me an email.



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