As far as I’m aware there is no standard way setting the local admin password on you machines via GP. You can of course do it manually, but if you’re that way inclined then you’re reading the wrong blog!
Right, lets automate this. There is a nice article on Heidelberg’s blog for setting unique passwords, but to be honest I was quite happy to have the same local admin password on each machine, so I followed the guide here.
The Microsoft guide is dead easy, basically just open up GPMC and edit your Computers GPO. In there navigate to:
- Computer Configuration > Preferences > Control Panel > Local Users and Groups
- Select ‘New’ Local User
- Select ‘Update’
- Select ‘Administrator (built-in)’
- Enter the password twice and then click ok, job done.
