Ned here again. One of the more interesting new features of Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 is Managed Service Accounts. MSA’s allow you to create an account in Active Directory that is tied to a specific computer. That account has its own complex password and is maintained automatically. This means that an MSA can run services on a computer in a secure and easy to maintain manner, while maintaining the capability to connect to network resources as a specific user principal. Today I will: Describe how MSA works Explain how to implement MSA’s Cover some limitations of MSA’s Troubleshoot a few common issues with MSA’s Let’s be about it. How Managed Service Accounts Work The Windows Server 2008 R2 AD Schema introduces a new object class called msDS-ManagedServiceAccount . Create an MSA, examine its objectClass attribute, and notice the object has an interesting object class inheritance structure: Computer msDS-ManagedServiceAccount ...