Is it possible to change the Database access account using osql? Or can this only be done through the Central Administration Web Application?

There are 2 ways of doing that Option#1 You can re-run the SharePoint configuration wizard. There you'd have the option to set the credentails for the database access account Option#2 Go to Central Admininistration ---> Operations ---> Default Database Server Here you can provide credential for thedatabase access account Hope this helps

hi sundar, thank you for your reply. When i re-run sharepoint configuration wizard and choose 'Yes, I want to connect to anexisting server farm' and browse to the db server and select the configuration db i want to use the username field is automatically populated with the database access account of 'NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE' if i try to change it to soomething else; 'domain\administrator' for example, i get the following error message: The username is invalid. The account must be a local account or a global domain account. Thats why im hoping i can change the database access account(farm administrator account) using osql script. I am assuming the 'nt authority\network service' is a hang over from sts v1 when the site was only running on msde. i have upgraded this site from 2 to wss v3 now. this is another example of why inplace upgrades are bad!

Hi Patrick, Please check the whether the following url helps. Particularly refer the section 'Change the configuration database administration account' in this article. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointportaladmin/HA011603491033.aspx

Hi Sundar, i have checked the URL and cannot change this, the username field is always automatically populated with the database access account of 'NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE' when i connect to the configuration database using the sharepoint products and technologies configuration wizard... if anybody can help me i would appreciate it, it would save me from restoring from an image...

Hi Patrick, If I understand correctly, the problem is that you want to (or need to) change your account, but every time you run the configuration wizard, it is already populated with the existing user. You cannot change the account from the config wizard. However, you can change it from command line. I believe if you follow the instructions for the password change, but also change the account at the same time, you should be good. http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/f/?en-us/library/eb6c2cfe-fa00-4417-867a-84b3032696801033.mspx If this does not help or I got the problem wrong, please help us understand what needs to change. More password change resources: http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/f/?en-us/library/4f52688f-7c27-41b7-8e28-c532d0e93e4d1033.mspx JP

Hi Jukka, what i am doing is trying to setup a sharepoint on a new server using 2 existing sharepoint databases (config and content) when i run the configuration wizard the farm account password is populated with "NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE" i cannot proceed as it wants a password. there are no passwords for service accounts. i cannot use stsadm-o updatefarmcredentials because i am not connected to the farm. can i setup a new config database and attach the old content database? will all my sites be restored?

after spending much time on this and rebuilding the server again, i have realised this is never going to work. i created a new farm(new config database)and attached my old content database to it. after i have reloaded all the custom web parts things should be back to normal. thank you everyone for your help.

Patrick, Did you ever get this to work? I am having the same issue neeed to know how to proceed!

hi chris, i was never able to attach to the existing farm again. i had to create a new farm and attach my old content database this was a pain as all my customizations were lost. lucky i had documented all the customizing so it was not so bad

I get the same problem when connect to an existing configuration database.

Hi Jukka the links http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/f/?en-us/library/eb6c2cfe-fa00-4417-867a-84b3032696801033.mspx http://technet2.microsoft.com/Office/f/?en-us/library/4f52688f-7c27-41b7-8e28-c532d0e93e4d1033.mspx Broken!