Reset Administrator Username and Password

Applies to SmarterMail 7.x - 16.x

On occasion, administrators may need to reset the login credentials for the primary Administrator account that manages the entire SmarterMail installation. This is useful in the event that the primary administrator has lost the password or if the login credentials have fallen into the wrong hands.

1. In the Windows Services panel, STOP the SmarterMail service. (Find the Services panel by clicking on the Start menu and expanding the Administrative Tools option.)
2. Navigate to the SmarterMail directory. By default, this will be C:\Program Files\SmarterTools\SmarterMail.
3. Open the Service folder.
4. Make a backup copy of the file, mailConfig.xml. (Call the backup mailConfig_bak.xml)
5. Edit the mailConfig.xml file. (To edit the contents of the mailConfig.xml file, right-click on the file and choose Edit or hover your mouse on Open with and select Notepad. Make sure you have administrative access when you do this.)
6. For version 16.x, find the section that looks like this and delete the bolded lines:

   <!-- ** System Admin ********************************* -->
       <!-- ** To reset admin password, delete these items ** -->
       <!-- ** and then restart the SmarterMail Service.   ** -->
       <!-- ************************************************* -->
       <sysAdminUserName> ... </sysAdminUserName>
       <sysAdminPasswordHash> ... </sysAdminPasswordHash>
       <sysAdminRejectAuthentication />
       <!-- ************************************************* -->

7. For versions 15.x and earlier, find the section that looks like this and delete the bolded lines:
   

   <!-- ** System Admin *************************** -->
   <!-- ** To reset admin password, delete these items ** -->
   <!-- ** and then restart the SmarterMail Service. ** -->
   <!-- ***************************************** -->
   <sysadminusername> ... < /sysadminusername>
   <sysadminpassword> ... < /sysadminpassword>
   <!-- ***************************************** -->

8. Save the file in the Service folder using its same name. You will receive the message, "mailConfig.xml already exists. Do you want to replace it?". Choose Yes to replace the file with the updated mailConfig.xml.
9. In the Windows Services panel, START the SmarterMail service.
   
   

After completing this process, you should now be able to log into SmarterMail using the default login credentials:
 
Email Address: admin
Password: admin

Troubleshooting

• After making a backup of the mailConfig.xml, drag the file out of the Services folder and onto your desktop. (Alternatively, you can right-click on the file in the Services folder, click Copy, then right-click on your desktop and click Paste.) Complete steps 5-7. Save and close the file. Then, drag the file from your desktop back into the Services folder (or copy and paste it in there). Confirm that you would like to replace the mailConfig.xml file that's already there. Start your SmarterMail services. 
• After making a backup of the mailConfig.xml file, click on the Start menu. (If Notepad is not already visible in the list of applications, type Notepad in the search bar.) Right-click on Notepad and choose Run as Administrator. In the User Account Control popup, choose Yes to allow the program to make changes to the computer. In Notepad, navigate to and open the mailConfig.xml file. (If mailConfig.xml is not visible in the folder, change the "Text Documents (*.txt)" dropdown to "All Files (*.*)" instead.) Save and close the file. In the Windows Services panel, start the SmarterMail service.

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