Password
Monitor v2.0
For those who use Macintosh computers in an otherwise Microsoft world, there is now an easy way to keep track of when your Active Directory account password is due to expire. This newest version of Password Monitor runs in the menu bar of OS X and simply counts down the number of days before your password is due to expire. The only requirements are a Macintosh system running OS X (version 10.6 or above) that is properly bound to an Active Directory and logging in with an associated domain account.
Password Monitor can easily be installed from its installer package. If you manage multiple systems and want to customize the default settings, you should consider modifying the POSTFILIGHT script within the installer package to match your specific settings.
Preferences:
Anytime you launch Password Monitor and it is not configured to run automatically, you will see the following prompt. Click the Yes button to have Password Monitor run automatically at logon.
By default Password Monitor is set for passwords to expire every 90 days. If you did not modify the installer package to match your specific settings, you can run the following command from within Terminal to adjust this setting to match the policy in your environment.
defaults write com.thomsontown.Password-Monitor pwdPolicy 90
If a user's password has recently been changed or is safe from expiring anytime soon, Password Monitor will display a green icon next to the count of days before the password is set to expire.
If a user's password has 10 days or fewer before expiring, Password Monitor will display a yellow icon next to the count of days before the password is set to expire.
If a user's password has only 3 days or fewer before expiring, Password Monitor will display a red icon next to the count of days before the password is set to expire.
If a user's password has expired or cannot be properly calculated, Password Monitor will display the following orange icon with an exclamation point.
The various thresholds that determine when the colored icons are displayed can be modified from their defaults by using the following commands from within Terminal.
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The green icon is displayed when the number of days until password expiration falls between the frequency in which the password is set to expire [pwdPolicy] and the number of days specified in the [normalWarnDays] setting. By default, the latter setting is set to 10 days. Modify and run the following command to suit your specific needs. defaults write com.thomsontown.Password-Monitor normalWarnDays 10 |
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The yellow icon is displayed when the number of days until password expiration falls between the [normalWarnDays] setting and the number of days specified in the [criticalWarnDays] setting. By default, the latter setting is set to 3 days. Modify and run the following command to suit your specific needs. defaults write com.thomsontown.Password-Monitor criticalWarnDays 3 |
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The red icon is displayed when the number of days until password expiration falls between the [criticalWarnDays] setting and the day the password is set to expire. |
Change Password:
When Password Monitor indicates you only have a few days before your password expires, you should take the opportunity to change your password by clicking on the icon in the menu bar and selecting Change Password from the drop-down menu.
Password Monitor will automatically take you to the familiar Accounts or Users & Groups pane within System Preferences. Simply provide your old password, followed by a new password and then enter your new password again for verification purposes. To complete the process, click on the Change Password button. Be aware that new passwords must conform to the policies set forth by your network administrator.
Refresh:
Password Monitor is set to refresh every 30 minutes while running. Changing your password may result in Password Monitor displaying out-dated information. To manually refresh the information, click on the icon in the menu bar and select Refresh from the drop-down menu.
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