Managing local accounts

LANDesk provides an administrative tool that enables you to manage a local machine's users and groups from the console.

Read this chapter to learn about:

Local accounts overview

Local accounts is an administrative tool used to manage the users and groups on local machines on your network. From the console, you can add and delete users and groups, add and remove users from groups, set and change passwords, edit user and group settings, and create tasks to reset passwords for multiple devices. For local accounts management to work, the Standard LANDesk Agent must be installed. If a device is turned off or not connected to the network, you won't be able to use local accounts to manage the device.

NOTE: When using local accounts, the core interacts with the other devices at near real-time.

Using the core server's local account

Since your core server is a node on your network and has local accounts, you can use the local accounts tool to perform administrative tasks on the server, as well as the console itself. You can add LANDesk users to the console by creating local users and adding them to the Windows LANDesk Management Suite, LANDesk Script Writers, or LANDesk Administrators group. This lets you perform administrative tasks from the console, without having to use the native local accounts management system, such as Computer Management on Windows.

If you prefer, you can still use the native local accounts management system to manage local accounts. You can access the devices directly, remote control the machines from the console, or use a third-party tool to access the devices and perform the administrative tasks.

For more information on using the console to perform local accounts management, see Adding Management Suite console users.

Managing local users

You can add, delete, and edit users on a local machine from the console.

To add a user
  1. In the console, from the Network View, click Devices > All devices.
  2. Right-click the device you want to manage and select Manage local users and groups.
  3. In the Local users and groups dialog box, right-click Users and then click Add.
  4. In the New User dialog box, enter a user name, a full name, and a description.
  5. Enter a password, confirm the password, and specify the password settings.
  6. Click Save.
To delete a user
  1. In the console, from the Network View, click Devices > All devices.
  2. Right-click the device you want to manage and select Manage local users and groups.
  3. In the Local users and groups dialog box, click Users.
  4. Right-click the user you want to delete and then click Delete.
  5. Click Yes to verify the procedure.
To edit a user
  1. In the console, from the Network View, click Devices > All devices.
  2. Right-click the device you want to manage and select Manage local users and groups.
  3. In the Local users and groups dialog box, click Users.
  4. Right-click the user you want to edit and then click Edit.
  5. Make your changes to the user properties and then click OK.

Managing local groups

You can add, delete, and edit groups on a local machine from the console.

To add a group
  1. In the console, from the Network View, click Devices > All devices.
  2. Right-click the device you want to manage and select Manage local users and groups.
  3. In the Local users and groups dialog box, right-click Groups and then click Add.
  4. In the New Group dialog box, enter a group name and a description.
  5. (Optional) Add users to the group by clicking Add.
  6. Click Save.
To delete a group
  1. In the console, from the Network View, click Devices > All devices.
  2. Right-click the device you want to manage and select Manage local users and groups.
  3. In the Local users and groups dialog box, click Groups.
  4. Right-click the group you want to delete and then click Delete.
  5. Click Yes to verify the procedure.
To edit a group
  1. In the console, from the Network View, click Devices > All devices.
  2. Right-click the device you want to manage and select Manage local users and groups.
  3. In the Local users and groups dialog box, click Groups.
  4. Right-click the group you want to edit and then click Edit.
  5. Make your changes to the group and then click OK.

Assigning users to groups

There are two methods for adding and removing users to and from groups on a local client when working from the console. The first method lets you add or remove multiple users to or from a group at one time. The second method lets you add or remove the selected user to or from one or more groups.

To add users to a group
  1. In the console, from the Network View, click Devices > All devices.
  2. Right-click the device you want to manage and select Manage local users and groups.
  3. In the Local users and groups dialog box, click Groups.
  4. Right-click the group you want to add users to and then click Edit.
  5. In the Edit group dialog, click Add.
  6. Select the users you want to add to the group and then click Add>>.
  7. Click OK.
  8. Click OK in the Edit group dialog.
To add a user to one or more groups
  1. In the console, from the Network View, click Devices > All devices.
  2. Right-click the device you want to manage and select Manage local users and groups.
  3. In the Local users and groups dialog box, click Users.
  4. Right-click the user you want to add to one or more groups and then click Edit.
  5. In the Edit user dialog, click the Member of tab.
  6. Click Add.
  7. Select the groups you want the user to belong to and then click Add>>.
  8. Click OK.
  9. From the Edit user dialog, click OK.
To remove users from a group
  1. In the console, from the Network View, click Devices > All devices.
  2. Right-click the device you want to manage and select Manage local users and groups.
  3. In the Local users and groups dialog box, click Groups.
  4. Right-click the group you want to remove users from and then click Edit.
  5. Select the users you want to remove and then click Remove>>.
  6. Click OK.
To remove a user from one or more groups
  1. In the console, from the Network View, click Devices > All devices.
  2. Right-click the device you want to manage and select Manage local users and groups.
  3. In the Local users and groups dialog box, click Users.
  4. Right-click the user you want to remove from one or more groups and then click Edit.
  5. In the Edit user dialog, click the Member of tab.
  6. Select the groups you want the user to be removed from and then click Remove>>.
  7. Click OK.

Changing passwords

You can change a user's password on a local machine from the console.

To change a user's password
  1. In the console, from the Network View, click Devices > All devices.
  2. Right-click the device you want to manage and select Manage local users and groups.
  3. In the Local users and groups dialog box, click Users.
  4. Right-click the user you want to change the password for and then click Set password.
  5. Enter a new password, confirm the password, and then click OK.
  6. Click OK to verify the password has been changed successfully.

Resetting passwords

You can create a scheduled task to reset the password for a specific user name. Once the task has been scheduled, you are taken to the Scheduled tasks tool where you can specify the target devices and the start time. For example, from a local account you could create a task to reset the password for the Administrator user name. You would then designate the target devices and schedule when the task will occur. Once the task is run, all administrators wanting to authenticate to the target devices would have to use the new password.

To reset the password
  1. In the console, from the Network View, click Devices > All devices.
  2. Right-click the device you want to manage and select Manage local users and groups.
  3. In the Local users and groups dialog box, click Users.
  4. Click the Schedule icon.
  5. In the Schedule task dialog box, insert the user name that you want to reset the password for. You can select an existing user name from the list, or type a different one.
  6. Enter a new password, confirm the password, and then click Schedule.
  7. From the Scheduled tasks tool, right-click the scheduled task and then click Properties.
  8. From the Scheduled tasks - properties dialog, designate the target devices and enter the scheduling information.
  9. Click Save.