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--- title: Update Password for an AD DS Storage Account Identity description: Learn how to update the password of the Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) identity that represents your storage account. author: khdownie ms.service: azure-file-storage ms.topic: how-to ms.date: 02/25/2026 ms.author: kendownie # Customer intent: As a storage administrator, I want to update the password of the Active Directory Domain Services identity that represents my storage account, so that I can maintain Kerberos authentication and ensure uninterrupted access to Azure file shares. --- # Update the password for your storage account identity in AD DS **Applies to:** :heavy_check_mark: SMB file shares When you domain join your storage account in your Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS), you create an AD principal, either a computer account or service account, with a password. The password for the AD principal is one of the Kerberos keys for the storage account. Depending on the password policy of the organizational unit for the AD principal, you must periodically rotate the password to avoid authentication problems. If you don't change the password before it expires, you lose Kerberos authentication to your Azure file shares. Some AD environments also delete AD principals with expired passwords by using an automated cleanup script. Instead of periodically rotating the password, you can also place the AD principal that represents the storage account into an organizational unit that doesn't require password rotation. Two options exist for triggering password rotation. You can use the `AzFilesHybrid` module or Active Directory PowerShell. Use one method, not both. ## Option 1: Use AzFilesHybrid module To regenerate and rotate the password for the AD principal that represents the storage account, use the `Update-AzStorageAccountADObjectPassword` cmdlet from the [AzFilesHybrid module](https://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/AzFilesHybrid/). To run `Update-AzStorageAccountADObjectPassword`, you must: - Run the cmdlet from a domain-joined client. - Have the owner permission on the storage account. - Have AD DS permissions to change the password for the AD principal that represents the storage account. ```PowerShell # Update the password of the AD DS account registered for the storage account # You can use either kerb1 or kerb2 Update-AzStorageAccountADObjectPassword ` -RotateToKerbKey kerb2 ` -ResourceGroupName "<your-resource-group-name-here>" ` -StorageAccountName "<your-storage-account-name-here>" ``` After you rotate to kerb2, wait several hours and use the `Update-AzStorageAccountADObjectPassword` cmdlet again to regenerate and rotate back to kerb1, so both Kerberos keys are regenerated. ## Option 2: Use Active Directory PowerShell If you don't want to download the `AzFilesHybrid` module, you can use [Active Directory PowerShell](/powershell/module/activedirectory). > [!IMPORTANT] > You must run the Windows Server Active Directory PowerShell cmdlets in this section in PowerShell 5.1 with elevated privileges. Replace `<domain-object-identity>` in the following script with the appropriate value for your environment: ```powershell $KeyName = "kerb1" # Could be either the first or second Kerberos key, this script assumes we're refreshing the first $KerbKeys = New-AzStorageAccountKey -ResourceGroupName $ResourceGroupName -Name $StorageAccountName -KeyName $KeyName $KerbKey = $KerbKeys.keys | Where-Object {$_.KeyName -eq $KeyName} | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Value $NewPassword = ConvertTo-SecureString -String $KerbKey -AsPlainText -Force Set-ADAccountPassword -Identity <domain-object-identity> -Reset -NewPassword $NewPassword ``` ## Test that the AD DS account password matches a Kerberos key After you update the AD DS account password, test it by using the following PowerShell command. ```powershell Test-AzStorageAccountADObjectPasswordIsKerbKey -ResourceGroupName "<your-resource-group-name>" -Name "<your-storage-account-name>" -Verbose ```