➡️ Why is my Active Directory account locked whenever I start IDEAL ADMINISTRATION?

If your Active Directory account is systematically locked when starting IDEAL ADMINISTRATION, this may be caused by an outdated password stored in the software authentication settings.

In the case we encountered, the issue was caused by the WMI authentication settings configured in IDEAL ADMINISTRATION: the user account was correct, but the stored password was no longer valid.

To resolve the issue:

• Open Tools \ Options \ Authentication \ Active Directory.
• Check the configured accounts and re-enter their passwords.
• Then open Tools \ Options \ Authentication \ WMI.
• Re-enter the password for the account or accounts used for WMI connections.
• Save the configuration and restart IDEAL ADMINISTRATION.

An incorrect password in the WMI configuration can generate multiple failed authentication attempts when querying remote computers. Depending on the Active Directory account lockout policy, these failed attempts can quickly cause the user account to be locked.

If the issue persists, you can identify the exact source of the lockout from the security logs on the domain controller.

• Completely close IDEAL ADMINISTRATION.
• Unlock the Active Directory account if necessary.
• Wait a few minutes without starting IDEAL ADMINISTRATION and check that the account is not locked again.
• Start IDEAL ADMINISTRATION and note the exact time when the account is locked.
• On the domain controller, open Event Viewer \ Windows Logs \ Security.
• Look for events 4740 (a user account was locked out) and 4625 (an account failed to log on) corresponding to the time of the issue.

In event 4740, the Caller Computer Name field can help identify the computer that initiated the authentication attempts which caused the account lockout.

In most cases, re-entering the correct password in Tools \ Options \ Authentication \ WMI is enough to resolve the issue.