You will no longer have service accounts with static passwords that are not changed on a regular basis. You will have to create a root key for the group key distribution service within Active Directory. Now what I like and have seen work well is one gMSA for each VM / Physical server that needs a managed account. gMSAs do not have passwords. This can be updated after the account is created. These keys are periodically changed. Applies To: Windows Server (Semi-Annual Channel), Windows Server 2016. The gMSA also helps to ensure that service account is only used to run a service (gMSA accounts cannot be used to log on interactively to domain computers). The following table provides links to additional resources related to Managed Service Accounts and group Managed Service Accounts. I will also change the SamAccountName and add two ServicePrincipalNames (SPN’s) to demonstrate how this is done, because some services like SQL requires SPN’s to be defined. They are special accounts that are created in Active Directory and can then be assigned as service accounts. To eliminate this drawback, Microsoft added the feature of Group Managed Service Accounts (gMSA) to Windows Server 2012. The other way I have seen this logically implemented is one gMSA for a whole SQL farm or RDS server farm. As indicated, some attributes can be updated after the gMSA is created. Since this is a well-documented process, we won't go into the specific steps here. Password management requires no administration overhead as password management is handled automatically using Windows Server 2012 and later versions across multiple hosts. Group managed service accounts require a key distribution service (KDS) using the AD PowerShell module. Currently, gMSA is supported: As a data collecting account for the following data sources: Active Directory (also for Group Policy and Logon Activity), Windows Server, File Server (currently for Windows File Servers), SQL Server, SharePoint. There are no configuration steps necessary to implement MSA and gMSA using Server Manager or the Install-WindowsFeature cmdlet. The root key only needs to be created once, thus if there are already gMSA accounts in the domain, then there is no need to create the root key. Virtual Accounts, as discussed in Part One, are local computer accounts which must use the domain computer account if they need to reach out and access network resources.. You can specify the computer accounts using a comma separated list, or you can specify a security group, and then add the computer accounts to the security group instead. The Key Distribution Service shares a secret which is used to create keys for the account. The SamAccountName attribute defaults to the Name attribute that we specified during creation. For this reason, AES should always be explicitly configured for MSAs. Which of the following is true regarding Group Managed Service Accounts (gMSAs) in Windows? A managed service account is dependent upon Kerberos supported encryption types.When a client computer authenticates to a server using Kerberos the DC creates a Kerberos service ticket protected with encryption both the DC and server supports. Today we want to set up and pay attention to Group Managed Service Accounts (gMSA) who was introduced in Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8.. gMSA’s are specific user accounts in Active Directory and extends the successor Standalone Managed Service Accounts (sMSA).. A great documentation with technical background and details about sMSA you will find below. Member hosts can obtain the current and preceding password values by contacting a domain controller. Use the following syntax with the Set-ADServiceAccount command: -ServicePrincipalNames @{Add=value1,value2,…}-ServicePrincipalNames @{Remove=value3,value4,…}-ServicePrincipalNames @{Replace=value1,value2,…}-ServicePrincipalNames $null, When viewing the properties we should now see these new values assigned to the gMSA. This document describes how to get started with them. This can only be specified when you create the account and cannot be modified later. Beginning with Windows Server 2008 R2, DES is disabled by default. New-ADServiceAccount -Name gmsa-Test02 -DNSHostName gmsa-Test02.thelabx.co.za –KerberosEncryptionType AES256 –ManagedPasswordIntervalInDays 60 –SamAccountName testacc02 -PrincipalsAllowedToRetrieveManagedPassword G-gMSA-TestAccount. Where possible, the current recommendation is to use Managed Service Accounts (MSA) or Group Managed Service Accounts (gMSA). A Group Managed Service Account (gMSA) can be used for services running on multiple servers such as a server farm. This would normally involve changing the password in Active Directory and then updating the individual services with the new password to ensure continuation of services. Group Managed Service Accounts (gMSAs), introduced in Windows Server 2012, provide the same functionality within the domain but also extend that functionality over multiple servers. This value determines the password change interval. A Key Distribution Services (KDS) root key is needed to support password generation for gMSAs. MSA (Managed Service Accounts) have been around since Windows Server 2008R2 with the latest incarceration of features being introduced with Windows 2012R2. Ensure you specify the required value during creation should you wish to use a custom password age for the account. The gMSA supports hosts that are kept offline for an extended time period, and management of member hosts for … Take note of the default values for following attributes which we did not specify during creation: The default value for KerberosEncryptionType is RC4, AES128 and AES256. Using MSA, you can considerably reduce the risk of system accounts running system services being compromised. For a gMSA the domain controller computes the password on the key provided by the Key Distribution Services, in addition to other attributes of the gMSA. A gMSA can be used with Scheduled Tasks, so go ahead and run your maintenance tasks with a gMSA. I will now be able to create a gMSA in the root domain and in the child domain. Read the post here. Active Directory PowerShell module for management Additionally, if you are using Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7 with Managed Service Accounts, it is important to ensure thatKB 2494158is installed. The primary difference being that MSA are used for standalone SQL instances, whereas clustered SQL instances require gMSA. This type of managed service account (MSA) was introduced in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. gMSAs provide a single identity solution for services running on a server farm, or on systems behind Network Load Balancer. The gMSA cannot be used to log on to any computers in the domain. This minimizes the administrative overhead of a service account by allowing Windows to handle password management for these accounts. To be able to make use of Managed Service Accounts with SQL Server, there are certain prerequisites that need to be met: 1. To create a new gMSA in my root domain and specify the computer names I will run the following command: New-ADServiceAccount -Name gmsa-Test01 -DNSHostName gmsa-Test01.thelabx.co.za -PrincipalsAllowedToRetrieveManagedPassword S01SRV0001$, S01SRV0002$. By providing a gMSA solution, services can be configured for the new gMSA principal and the password management is handled by Windows.Using a gMSA, services or service administrators do not need to manage password synchronization between service instances. What is a gMSA? The Managed Service Accounts (MSA) was introduced in Windows Server 2008 R2 to automatically manage (change) passwords of service accounts. ADFS, IIS and systems behind a Network Load Balance (NLB) are good examples of these. Create the Key Distribution Services KDS Root Key, Getting Started with Group Managed Service Accounts. SQL Server 2012 or Higher 3. I will now update the first gMSA account by modifying the computers that can use the gMSA and also updating the KerberosEncryptionType value. It takes 10 hours for full synchronization between all AD domain controllers. The gMSA will not work on any computers that are not specified in the PrincipalsAllowedToRetrieveManagedPassword attribute. I also tried creating a root key while logged onto the child domain and received an error message: You will need to wait 10 hours before new gMSA accounts can be created. You can also use a gMSA to run services on a single server. create the service account giving permission to that group to use it. With MSA no one needs to set up the account password or even know it, the entire password management process Is … The default value for ManagedPasswordIntervalInDays is 30 days. This means you can deploy a server farm that supports a single identity to which existing client computers can authenticate without knowing the instance of the service to which they are connecting. Now I can add or remove computer accounts to the security group, instead of updating the gMSA account directly. When a gMSA is used as service principals, the Windows operating system manages the password for the account instead of relying on the administrator to manage the password. Introduce Windows Server 2012 or later DCs into the domain 1.2. A 64-bit architecture is required to run the Windows PowerShell commands which are used to administer gMSAs. Let’s create another gMSA and specify some additional parameters. Open Active Directory Sites and Services, View and Show Services Node. Managed Service Accounts (MSAs) and Group Managed Service Accounts (gMSAs), on the other hand, are domain accounts already, so when they access the network resources, they do so using the domain account … This prevents password generation before all Domain Controllers are capable of answering the password requests. The Azure ATP service started successfully on the child domain Domain Controller. The creation will fail if non-existing computer names are specified. Domain Controllers require a root key to generate the password for gMSA accounts. This is used by the KDS service … When creating the gMSA you need to specify the computer accounts that will be allowed to make use of the gMSA. The Managed Service Accounts (MSA) was initially used in Windows Server 2008 R2 to automatically manage (change) passwords of service accounts. The main benefit from an identity perspective is that there is no password to manage for this account. The root key is available in my root domain and I have waited the required 10 hours. Assuming the user has the correct permissions, the key(s) will then be visible in Services, Group Key Distribution Service, Master … These accounts can be used simultaneously on several servers, so that all service instances used the same account, like in Load Balancer (NLB), cluster services, etc. gMSAs can be used to run Scheduled Tasks. Group Managed Service Accounts can only be configured and administered on hosts running Windows Server 2012 and are not applicable on to othe… The Name and SamAccountName values are not the same since the SamAccountName value matches what we specified during creation. A check for an existing key(s) is shown below. gMSAs are supported on Windows Server 2008 R2 and later versions. Group Managed Service Accounts (GMSAs) User accounts created to be used as service accounts rarely have their password changed. This topic for the IT professional introduces the group Managed Service Account by describing practical applications, changes in Microsoft's implementation, and hardware and software requirements. In Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft introduced the concept of a Managed Service Account (MSA), and improved on the concept by introducing the group Managed Service Account (gMSA) in Windows Server 2012. The Microsoft Key Distribution Service (kdssvc.dll) provides the mechanism to securely obtain the latest key or a specific key with a key identifier for an Active Directory account. Failover clusters do not support gMSAs. Group Managed Service Account (gMSA) was first introduced in Windows Server 2012 and takes the same functionality as Managed Service Accounts and extends its … We can now see that the account was created with the appropriate values that we specified during creation and is no longer using the default values as with the first account. When used in an Active Directory environment that runs the Windows Server 2008 R2 Domain Functional Level (DFL), or up, and using the Active Directory Domain Services Remote Server Administration Tools (AD DS RSAT) on at least Windows Server 2012 or Windows 8, gMSAs offer thes… For more information about supported encryption types, see Changes in Kerberos Authentication. Automatic Password Management (no restart needed if password changes) Automatic SPN registration The password will automatically change and there is no need to update the password on the individual tasks. To determine if the root key exists I run Get-KdsRootKey in my forest root domain and child domain using Windows PowerShell. I will show you how to determine if the root key exists. PowerShell script: $(Get-KdsRootKey) | Select KeyId, EffectiveTime Alternatively, this can be configured graphically. The command I use is as follows: Get-ADServiceAccount gmsa-test01 -Properties * | FL DNSHostName,KerberosEncryptionType,ManagedPasswordIntervalInDays,Name,PrincipalsAllowedToRetrieveManagedPassword,SamAccountName. Now when I run Get-KdsRootKey I will see the root key values in the output: The KDS Root Key can also be viewed using the Active Directory Sites and Services Console. Set-ADServiceAccount gmsa-test01 -SamAccountName gmsa-newname -KerberosEncryptionType AES128 -PrincipalsAllowedToRetrieveManagedPassword S01SRV0003$ -ServicePrincipalNames @{Add=”MSSQLSvc/ITFarm1.contoso.com:1433″, “MSSQLSvc/ITFarm1.contoso.com:INST01”}, Take note that the format of the data provided for -ServicePrincipalNames is different when using the Set-ADServiceAccount compared to using the New-ADServiceAccount, Use comma seperate list when using New-ADServiceAccount for example: -ServicePrincipalNames value1, value2, value3, value4. Managed Service Account (MSA) Is a new type of Active Directory Account type where AD responsible for changing the account password every 30 days. Using a gMSA, services or service administrators do not need to manage password synchronization between service instances. But now that we have Group Managed Service Accounts (gMSAs), there are many more places they can be used. When connecting to a service hosted on a server farm, such as Network Load Balanced solution, the authentication protocols supporting mutual authentication require that all instances of the services use the same principal. The DC uses the account's msDS-SupportedEncryptionTypes attribute to determine what encryption the server supports and, if there is no attribute, it assumes the client computer does not support stronger encryption types. I created the gMSA in the root domain and configured Azure ATP to use this account to connect to Active Directory. You can also use a gMSA to run services on a single server. Group Managed Service Accounts (gMSAs) provide a higher security option for non-interactive applications/services/processes/tasks that run automatically but need a security credential. If you are using Windows Server 2012 domain controllers, then you will need to ha… Managed group service accounts are stored in the managed service account container of the active directory. I haven’t found any detailed documents in regards to cross-domain usage of a gMSA account and have not been able to test in different scenarious. A standalone Managed Service Account (sMSA) is a managed domain account that provides automatic password management, simplified service principal name (SPN) management and the ability to delegate the management to other administrators. We can fix this by specifying the full list of servers: Set-ADServiceAccount gmsa-newname$ -PrincipalsAllowedToRetrieveManagedPassword S01SRV0001$, S01SRV0002$, S01SRV0003$. In the below example I used Windows PowerShell to view the root key in my child domain and the output did not display the root key. Also take note of the $ (dollar) sign at the end of the name, similar to computer objects. The password is managed by AD and automatically changed. You can still use these on just one server, but you have the option of using them on additional servers later if required. Both account types are ones where the account password is managed by the Domain Controller. The gMSA account was created and can be seen in the Managed Service Accounts container: Let’s view some of the properties for the gMSA account using Windows PowerShell. Run the command again using the new SamAccountName value assigned to the gMSA and also include the ServicePrincipalNames property, Get-ADServiceAccount gmsa-newname -Properties * | FL DNSHostName,KerberosEncryptionType,ManagedPasswordIntervalInDays,Name,PrincipalsAllowedToRetrieveManagedPassword,SamAccountName,ServicePrincipalNames. Group managed service accounts got following capabilities, • No Password Management The technology of Managed Service Accounts (MSA) was firstly introduced in Windows Server 2008 R2 to automatically manage (change) passwords of service accounts.Using Managed Service Accounts, you can considerably reduce the risk of system accounts running system services being compromised. The attributes have been updated successfully except that the PrincipalsAllowedToRetrieveManagedPassword value now only contains a single server. Let’s view some of the properties for the second gMSA account using Windows PowerShell. gMSAs are not supported in SQL Server. Once the KDS Root Key is ready for use then you can create group managed service accounts. Group Managed Service accounts are perfect identity solutions for services running on multiple hosts. This allows multiple Windows Servers to use the same gMSA account, the usage is, of course, restricted and only the computer objects assigned can query the password. create a group in Active Directory and add the computer accounts of the servers that you want to use a particular service account. They are completely managed … It uses an Add-KdsRootkey PowerShell cmdlet. The password for the gMSAs (Group Managed Service Accounts) are generated and maintained by the Key Distribution Service (KDS, kdssvc.dll) on the Active Directory Domain controllers. The computer names specified has to be valid computer objects. Protect and audit the security group for membership changes to prevent unauthorized computers being allowed to use the gMSA. gMSAs provide a single identity solution for services running on a server farm, or on systems behind Network Load Balancer. Opting to use gMSA instead of a normal service account wherever possible eliminates the need to manage the passwords for these accounts. Create Active Directory Security Group 2. This also eliminates service accounts with static passwords that are set upon creation, and then never cycled again, which I find is the norm with many customers to date. The reason for this is the effort involved in updating the password on multiple systems without causing downtime. The first step to using them is to extend your Active Directory Schema, which is not covered here. For the demonstration purpose, you can use either -EffectiveImmediately parameter or specify a past timestamp. Enter Group Managed Service Accounts. Group Managed Service Accounts (GMSAs) provide a better approach (starting in the Windows 2012 timeframe). To facilitate the one-to-many relationship between gMSA and computers this is achieved via the following process: 1. They can now be used for SQL Server and they’re a lot more flexible and easier to work with. Using PowerShell, creat… The PrincipalsAllowedToRetrieveManagedPassword attribute on the account will provide a clear indication of where the service account is intended to be used, no guesswork required. This is first introduced with windows server 2012. Managed Service Accounts Documentation for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, Managed Service Accounts in Active Directory, Getting Started with Group Managed Service Accounts, Managed Service Accounts in Active Directory Domain Services, Managed Service Accounts: Understanding, Implementing, Best Practices, and Troubleshooting, Active Directory Domain Services Overview. I use the same command that I used to view the properties of the first account, ensuring I specify the SamAccountName to display the correct account: Get-ADServiceAccount testacc02 -Properties * | FL DNSHostName,KerberosEncryptionType,ManagedPasswordIntervalInDays,Name,PrincipalsAllowedToRetrieveManagedPassword,SamAccountName. This makes the solution easier to manage since there is no user interaction required to cycle the password on a regular basis. Instead, here is an overview: 1. With MSA, you can minimize the risk of system accounts … I am not going into technical details on the root key, please refer to the references at the end of this article for more detailed information if required. This is the account name that you will use when you configure the services to use the gMSA. Now it will be an easy task to clean up unused accounts. What are group managed service accounts? gMSAs are not applicable to Windows operating systems prior to Windows Server 2012. by the Azure Cloud & AI team at Microsoft. However, services that run on top of the Cluster service can use a gMSA or a sMSA if they are a Windows service, an App pool, a scheduled task, or natively support gMSA or sMSA. The accounts cannot be used to log onto any servers and can only run services as intended. ADFS, IIS and systems behind a Network Load Balance (NLB) are good examples of these. I have a 2 domain forest configuration. The PrincipalsAllowedToRetrieveManagedPassword attribute contains the distinguishedName values for the computer accounts that we specified during creation. Domain Functional Level of Windows Server 2008 R2 or higher 2. Initial setup steps - done only once for each domain 1.1. I have however successfully deployed Azure ATP in my 2 domain forest. Azure AD Connect, On Demand Assessments, Azure Advanced Threat Protection (Azure ATP), SQL, IIS, System Centre Operations Manager 2019 UR1 (SCOM 2019 UR1) and ADFS supports Group Managed Service Accounts. The gMSA supports hosts that are kept offline for an extended time period, and management of member hosts for all instances of a service. For that purpose, we will use the group managed service accounts that can be running within the company, within the domain, where you’ve got the domain updated, to the schema updated to at least Windows Server 2012. The group Managed Service Account (gMSA) provides the same functionality within the domain but also extends that functionality over multiple servers. You will not see any output from the command when the root key does not exist: I will now create the KDS Root Key by running Add-KdsRootKey -EffectiveImmediately on my root domain using Windows PowerShell: The output result is a Guid value which indicates command completed successfully. MSA has one major problem which is the usage of such service account only on one computer. The Managed Service Accounts in Windows2008R2 offered two distinct features. This is a safety measure to ensure all Domain Controllers converge their replication before allowing the creation of a gMSA. gMSA Requirements: You may want to specify the account to use only the highest level of encryption. You also cannot create a root key in a child domain. I will demonstrate both. Group Managed Service accounts (gMSAs) are a way to avoid most of the above work. Add computer objects to Security Group 3. The group Managed Service Account solves limitation problems because the account password is managed by Windows Server 2012 domain controllers and can be retrieved by multiple Windows Server 2012 systems. If you intend using Group Managed Service Accounts feature. The gMSA is configured on the servers and Windows handles the password management of the account. These are not accounts which can be used to login to a machine, or connect remotely to one via WMI, etc. A Group Managed Service Account (gMSA) can be used for services running on multiple servers such as a server farm. This ensure the service account is only used for it’s intended purpose of running a service. Another common finding is that accounts were created long ago and current support staff are not sure on which systems the account are used. If a key already exists this can be used if it is valid. If the host is configured to not support RC4, then authentication will always fail. I will also specify a security group for the PrincipalsAllowedToRetrieveManagedPassword attribute instead of computer accounts. The child domain Domain Controller is using the root domain gMSA to read objects in the child domain. Since most scenarios require a service account to be used on multiple servers, we are going to focus on group Managed Service Accounts. By providing a gMSA solution, services can be configured for the new gMSA principal and the password management is handled by Windows. Create gMSA and specify Security Group to link the account and computers The following commands are used to create the group, add the computer objects as members of the newly created group, then check the … The PrincipalsAllowedToRetrieveManagedPassword attribute now contains the distinguishedName of the security group that we specified. The previous value which contained two servers was replaced so now instead of having 3 servers in the list, we end up with the 1 server that we specified with the Set-ADServiceAccount command. This is where group Managed Service Accounts (gMSA) differ from Managed Service Accounts (MSA). Group Managed service accounts provides the same functionalities as managed service accounts but its extend its capabilities to host group levels. In the console, select View then select Show Services Node: You will find the root key under the Master Root Keys node: It is important to note that the root key will only be visible in the root domain of the forest, not in any of the child domains. GMSA accounts were created to allow a distributed application a secure method of running under the same user context in Windows. use the service account as normal adding $ to the account name without specifying a password. This can also be updated later or you can specify the SamAccountName value that you want to use when creating the account. You won’t have the same experience when using a gMSA since the gMSA is configured to run on specific systems, which can be easily reviewed and updated during the account lifecycle. 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