Documentation:Change password MDriven Server

Change password MDriven Server

This page was created by Henrik on 2019-06-05. Last edited by Wikiadmin on 2026-07-29.

You can change an MDrivenServer user password from the administration interface, or reset the built-in Turnkey connection account when you cannot sign in.

Choose the right method

Use the method that matches your access situation.

Situation	What to do
You can sign in to MDrivenServer and know the current user password	Change the password in the MDrivenServer user administration interface.
You need to change the password for user `a` and have access to the server files	Reset user `a` with `PwdReset.txt`, then update the Turnkey connection password.
User `a` is locked out or all administrator passwords are lost	Follow Lost password or locked out to unlock or recover access.

Change a password when you can sign in

Use this method for an MDrivenServer account when you can access the administration interface.

Sign in to MDrivenServer.
Go to Settings/Users.
Select the user whose password you know.
Enter and save the new password in the user interface.

For example, if you change the password for a separate administrator account, that account can use the new password at its next sign-in.

Changing the password for user a

User a is the account that MDriven Turnkey uses to connect to MDrivenServer. If you change this account's password, you must also update the password used by Turnkey. Otherwise, Turnkey continues attempting to sign in with the old password, consumes the available login attempts, and locks user a.

For an on-premise setup where the server is not placed relative to the Turnkey frontend, update the password in APP_Data/MDrivenServerOverride.xml. The related Turnkey settings files are APP_Data/TurnkeySettings(_extra, _override).xml when the relative server arrangement is used.

Reset user a from the server files

Use this method when you have access to the MDrivenServer installation or its persistent settings, but cannot use the normal user interface to set the password.

Create a text file named PwdReset.txt.
Put only the new password in the file. Do not add other text.
Save the file in the MDrivenServer App_Data folder.
Before restarting MDrivenServer, update the password that Turnkey uses to connect to MDrivenServer. For a separate server URL, update APP_Data/MDrivenServerOverride.xml with the same new password.
Save and close PwdReset.txt.
Restart MDrivenServer.

At startup, MDrivenServer reads the file and sets its content as the password for user a. If user a was locked out, the reset also unlocks it. MDrivenServer deletes PwdReset.txt after reading it.

For example, if the new password in PwdReset.txt is NewPassword, configure Turnkey with NewPassword before the restart. Do not leave Turnkey configured with the previous password.

Registration setting after a password reset

Using PwdReset.txt turns on TurnOffRegistration. This blocks new-user registration. This behavior is also used to harden an MDrivenServer during deployment and refresh.

Do not enable registration as a routine response to a password change. If all administrator access is lost and you intentionally need to register a replacement account, follow the recovery instructions in Lost password or locked out. That procedure describes changing TurnOffRegistration in the built-in database. Restore the registration block after you have recovered administrator access.

Docker deployment

For a Docker deployment, create PwdReset.txt containing the new password in the settings/mdriven-server folder. Add a volume bind mapping the file to /pwdreset/PwdReset.txt inside the container, update MDrivenServerOverride.xml in settings/mdriven-turnkey, and restart the container. See Deploying MDriven Server and Turnkey with Docker for the deployment-specific procedure.

If you are locked out

Multiple failed sign-in attempts can lock an account; the documented lockout persists for 10 minutes. If waiting does not solve the problem, use the recovery options in Lost password or locked out. Those options include resetting user a, editing the built-in database when necessary, and using portal-managed operations for installations registered in the portal.

Do not edit DatabaseCompact.sdf for a normal password change. Database editing is a recovery procedure; see MDrivenServer, opening the built-in database for how to open that database.

Keep administrator access recoverable

Keep user a available for the Turnkey connection and store its configured password securely.
Create another administrator account before disabling new-user registration, so that a lockout of user a does not remove all administrative access.
Assign roles to limit what each account can do. The SuperAdmin role is unrestricted.
After you have at least two administrator accounts, turn off registration to prevent unapproved accounts from being created.
Restrict internet access to MDrivenServer when appropriate, while ensuring administrators and Turnkey frontends can still reach it.

These measures and the broader operational guidance are collected in Configure and Maintain MDriven Server.

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