Unable to start IBM WebSphere Application Server after the user name changes or expires

If the user name or password that you created for WebSphere® Application Server or for the metadata repository changes or expires, the application server does not start.

Symptom

The application server does not start.

Cause

The WebSphere Application Server user name or password changed or expired, or the metadata repository user name or password changed or expired. Starting and stopping WebSphere Application Server requires user authentication. These start and stop commands fail when user authentication is unsuccessful because the user names or passwords changed or expired.

Resolving the problem

The IBM® InfoSphere® Information Server installation directory is shown as install_home in the following commands.

Note: The AppServerAdmin commands do not validate user names or passwords.

AIX® Linux

Follow these steps to resolve the problem:

Log in to the services tier computer as root.
To change the password for the WebSphere Application Server administrator user, enter the following command:
```
install_home/ASBServer/bin/AppServerAdmin.sh -was -user user_name 
     -password new_password
```
To change the password for the metadata repository user, do the following steps:
1. Confirm that you can use the new password to connect to the database.
2. Enter the following command to register the new password information:
```
install_home/ASBServer/bin/AppServerAdmin.sh -db -user user_name 
     -password new_password
```
3. Restart all WebSphere Application Server processes. See Administering IBM InfoSphere Information Server and IBM WebSphere Application Server services.

Microsoft Windows

Follow these steps to resolve the problem:

Log in to the services tier computer as a user with administrator privileges.
To change the password for the WebSphere Application Server administrator user, enter the following command:
```
install_home\ASBServer\bin\AppServerAdmin.bat -was -user user_name 
     -password new_password
```
To change the password for the metadata repository user, do the following steps:
1. Confirm that you can use the new password to connect to the database.
2. Enter the following command to register the new password information:
```
install_home\ASBServer\bin\AppServerAdmin.bat -db -user user_name 
     -password new_password
```
3. Restart all WebSphere Application Server processes. See Administering IBM InfoSphere Information Server and IBM WebSphere Application Server services.

For details on adding a new WebSphere Application Server user when using the internal registry, see Adding an IBM WebSphere Application Server administrator user to an internal user registry.