Set Credential

The Set Credential page registers the credential required by an agent to perform user level tasks on a managed machine. A credential is the logon name and password used to authenticate a user or process's access to a machine or network or some other resource. Most agent tasks do not require a credential. Credentials are specifically required or referenced by the following:

Patch Management - If a credential is defined for a machine ID, then Patch Management installs all new patches using this credential. Therefore, Set Credential should always be a user with administrator rights.
Patch Status - Patch Status resets test results every time a machine ID's Set Credential changes.
File Source - File Source may require a set credential be defined for the machine ID acting as the file share.
Patch Alert - Set up an alert to notify you if a machine ID's credential is missing or invalid.
Office Source - The agent must have a credential to access the alternate Office source location, in case a patch is being installed when no user is logged into the machine.
If-Then-Else - The useCredential() command in the agent procedure editor requires a credential be defined in Set Credential to run successfully.
Backup > Image Location - If a UNC path is specified in Image Location, a credential must be defined using Set Credential that provides access to this UNC path. Without the credential, the machine will not have access to the image location and the backup will fail. When specifying a UNC path to a share accessed by an agent machine—for example \\machinename\share—ensure the share's permissions allow read/write access using the credential specified for that agent machine in Agent > Set Credential.
View Definitions - Includes a Machines with Credential status option that allows you to filter the display of machine IDs on any agent page by their credential status.
Desktop Management - Installing the client for this module requires a credential be defined.

Blank Passwords

Blank passwords can be used if the managed machine's Local Security Policy allows blank passwords. On the managed machine, open the Local Security Policy tool in Administrative Tools. Navigate to Local Policies - Security Options. Look for a policy named Accounts: Limit local account use of blank passwords to console logon only. The default setting is enabled. Change it to disabled and a credential with a blank password will work.

Username

Enter the username for the credential. Typically this a user account.

Password

Enter the password associated with the username above.

Domain

Local user account - Select this option to use a credential that logs into this machine locally, without reference to a domain.

Use machine's current domain - Create a credential using the domain name this machine is a member of, as determined by the latest audit. This makes it easier to Select All and rapidly set a common username/password on multiple machines, even if selected machines are members of different domains.

Specify domain - Manually specify the domain name to use for this credential.

Apply

Assign the credential to all checked machine IDs. Machine IDs with assigned credentials display the username and domain in the associated table columns.

Clear

Remove the credential from all checked machine IDs.

Test

Click Test to verify whether a username/password/domain credential will work before assigning it to a machine ID.

Cancel

Click Cancel to cancel the testing of a username/password/domain credential.