Powershell script to change service account

I wrote a function for PowerShell that changes the username, password, and restarts a service on a remote computer (you can use localhost if you want to change the local server). I've used this for monthly service account password resets on hundreds of servers.

You can find a copy of the original at http://www.send4help.net/change-remote-windows-service-credentials-password-powershel-495

It also waits until the service is fully stopped to try to start it again, unlike one of the other answers.

Function Set-ServiceAcctCreds([string]$strCompName,[string]$strServiceName,[string]$newAcct,[string]$newPass){
  $filter = 'Name=' + "'" + $strServiceName + "'" + ''
  $service = Get-WMIObject -ComputerName $strCompName -namespace "root\cimv2" -class Win32_Service -Filter $filter
  $service.Change($null,$null,$null,$null,$null,$null,$newAcct,$newPass)
  $service.StopService()
  while ($service.Started){
    sleep 2
    $service = Get-WMIObject -ComputerName $strCompName -namespace "root\cimv2" -class Win32_Service -Filter $filter
  }
  $service.StartService()
}

The PowerShell 6 version of Set-Service now has the -Credential parameter.

Here is an example:

$creds = Get-Credential
Set-Service -DisplayName "Remote Registry" -Credential $creds

At this point, it is only available via download via GitHub.

Enjoy!

I created a text file "changeserviceaccount.ps1" containing the following script:

$account="domain\user"
$password="passsword"
$service="name='servicename'"

$svc=gwmi win32_service -filter $service
$svc.StopService()
$svc.change($null,$null,$null,$null,$null,$null,$account,$password,$null,$null,$null)
$svc.StartService()

I used this as part of by post-build command line during the development of a windows service:

Visual Studio: Project properties\Build Events

Pre-build event command line:

"C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\installutil.exe" myservice.exe /u

Post-build event command line:

"C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\installutil.exe" myservice.exe
powershell -command - < c:\psscripts\changeserviceaccount.ps1

A slight variation on the other scripts here, is below. This one will set credentials for any/all services running under a given login account. It will only attempt to restart the service if it was already running, so that we don't accidentally start a service that was stopped for a reason. The script has to be run from and elevated shell (if the script starts telling you about ReturnValue = 2, you're probably running it un-elevated). Some usage examples are:

• all services running as the currently logged in user, on the local host:

  .\set-servicecredentials.ps1 -password p@ssw0rd

• all services running as user: somedomain\someuser on host somehost.somedomain:

  .\set-servicecredentials.ps1 somehost.somedomain somedomain\someuser p@ssw0rd

Set-ServiceCredentials.ps1:

param (
  [alias('computer', 'c')]
  [string] $computerName = $env:COMPUTERNAME,

  [alias('username', 'u')]
  [string] $serviceUsername = "$env:USERDOMAIN\$env:USERNAME",

  [alias('password', 'p')]
  [parameter(mandatory=$true)]
  [string] $servicePassword
)
Invoke-Command -ComputerName $computerName -Script {
  param(
    [string] $computerName,
    [string] $serviceUsername,
    [string] $servicePassword
  )
  Get-WmiObject -ComputerName $computerName -Namespace root\cimv2 -Class Win32_Service | Where-Object { $_.StartName -eq $serviceUsername } | ForEach-Object {
    Write-Host ("Setting credentials for service: {0} (username: {1}), on host: {2}." -f $_.Name, $serviceUsername, $computerName)
    $change = $_.Change($null, $null, $null, $null, $null, $null, $serviceUsername, $servicePassword).ReturnValue
    if ($change -eq 0) {
      Write-Host ("Service Change() request accepted.")
      if ($_.Started) {
        $serviceName = $_.Name
        Write-Host ("Restarting service: {0}, on host: {1}, to implement credential change." -f $serviceName, $computerName)
        $stop = ($_.StopService()).ReturnValue
        if ($stop -eq 0) {
          Write-Host -NoNewline ("StopService() request accepted. Awaiting 'stopped' status.")
          while ((Get-WmiObject -ComputerName $computerName -Namespace root\cimv2 -Class Win32_Service -Filter "Name='$serviceName'").Started) {
            Start-Sleep -s 2
            Write-Host -NoNewline "."
          }
          Write-Host "."
          $start = $_.StartService().ReturnValue
          if ($start -eq 0) {
            Write-Host ("StartService() request accepted.")
          } else {
            Write-Host ("Failed to start service. ReturnValue was '{0}'. See: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa393660(v=vs.85).aspx" -f $start) -ForegroundColor "red"
          }
        } else {
          Write-Host ("Failed to stop service. ReturnValue was '{0}'. See: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa393673(v=vs.85).aspx" -f $stop) -ForegroundColor "red"
        }
      }
    } else {
      Write-Host ("Failed to change service credentials. ReturnValue was '{0}'. See: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384901(v=vs.85).aspx" -f $change) -ForegroundColor "red"
    }
  }
} -Credential "$env:USERDOMAIN\$env:USERNAME" -ArgumentList $computerName, $serviceUsername, $servicePassword

Just making @alastairs's comment more visible: the 6th parameter must be $false instead of $null when you use domain accounts:

$service = Get-WMIObject -class Win32_Service -filter "name='serviceName'"
$service.change($null, $null, $null, $null, $null, $false, "DOMAIN\account", "mypassword")

Without that it was working for 4/5 of the services I tried to change, but some refused to be changed (error 21).

Considering that whithin this class:

$class=[WMICLASS]'\\.\root\Microsoft\SqlServer\ComputerManagement:SqlService'

there's a method named setserviceaccount(), may be this script will do what you want:

# Copyright Buck Woody, 2007
# All scripts provided AS-IS. No functionality is guaranteed in any way.
# Change Service Account name and password using PowerShell and WMI
$class = Get-WmiObject -computername "SQLVM03-QF59YPW" -namespace
root\Microsoft\SqlServer\ComputerManagement -class SqlService

#This remmed out part shows the services - I'll just go after number 6 (SQL
#Server Agent in my case):
# foreach ($classname in $class) {write-host $classname.DisplayName}
# $class[6].DisplayName
stop-service -displayName $class[6].DisplayName

# Note: I recommend you make these parameters, so that you don't store
# passwords. At your own risk here!
$class[6].SetServiceAccount("account", "password")
start-service -displayName $class[6].DisplayName

$svc = Get-WmiObject win32_service -filter "name='serviceName'"

the position of username and password can change so try this line to find the right place$svc.GetMethodParameters("change")

$svc.change($null,$null,$null,$null,$null,$null,$null,$null,$null,"admin-username","admin-password")

The given answers do the job.

Although, there is another important detail; in order to change the credentials and run the service successfully, you first have to grant that user account permissions to 'Log on as a Service'.

To grant that privilege to a user, use the Powershell script provided here by just providing the username of the account and then run the other commands to update the credentials for a service as mentioned in the other answers, i.e.,

$svc=gwmi win32_service -filter 'Service Name'

$svc.change($null,$null,$null,$null,$null,$null,'.\username','password',$null,$null,$null)

Sc config example. First allowing modify access to a certain target folder, then using the locked down "local service" account. I would use set-service -credential, if I had PS 6 or above everywhere.

icacls c:\users\myuser\appdata\roaming\fahclient /grant "local service:(OI)(CI)(M)"
sc config "FAHClient" obj="NT AUTHORITY\LocalService"

What I cannot find in the default PS stack, I find it implemented in Carbon:

http://get-carbon.org/help/Install-Service.html

http://get-carbon.org/help/Carbon_Service.html (Carbon 2.0 only)