Reset Sharepoint 2010 Farm Passphrase

Farm Passphrase 

Farm passphrase is a new security feature in SharePoint 2010. Similar to a password, it is created as part of the initial creation of a SharePoint farm. The passphrase is created during psconfig step of SharePoint installation. It is required when we have to add additional servers to the farm. There are times when farm administrators misplace or forget the passphrase.

Resetting Farm Passphrase for Sharepoint 2010

1) Login to the Sharepoint server with your Farm Account(should have permission to Sharepoint Config DB). Start the Sharepoint 2010 Management Shell and Run As Administrator

2) $passphrase = ConvertTo-SecureString -asPlainText –Force

3) On the prompt, enter your new Passphrase(Please make sure you write it down, else you wouldn’t be reading this now  :-))

4) Set-SPPassPhrase -PassPhrase $passphrase –Confirm

5) You have to confirm your new passphrase by entering it again

6) Press “Y” .Now your passphrase have been reset