Password and MFA resets are the most valuable actions Robin performs and the most constrained. What Robin can reset depends on where the user's identity lives, and every path has the same prerequisite. This article covers both.
What Robin needs before any reset
Important:
- The user's phone number must already be in Atera before they are locked out. Robin verifies a reset by sending an SMS code that the user enters in the Robin chat. Someone locked out with no phone number on their record cannot be verified, and Robin cannot help them. This is the limitation that catches people out, because it cannot be fixed at the moment it matters. Collect phone numbers as part of onboarding, not as part of incident response.
- Enter phone numbers with the country code (for example, +1 followed by 10 digits in the US). The SMS provider rejects numbers without one.
- Check your coverage in Reports > Analytical reports > Presets > AI Readiness. The report shows which contacts have no mobile number and which devices aren't linked to a contact. See Atera's analytical reports. You can also check Contacts assignment on the AI Center > Setup page.
- If no cell number is present, SMS can fall back to a landline, provided the landline is in the user's profile and supports SMS. A shared landline, such as a reception number, can receive the SMS but can't route it to the right person, so add a personal mobile number wherever you can.
- Each user also needs an assigned agent. See Assign an agent to an end user.
Admin accounts cannot be reset
Important: With Entra ID sync, password reset does not work for admin accounts. This is a limit of Microsoft's User Administrator role. Reset those passwords directly in Microsoft Entra ID.
The reset paths
Robin can reset passwords for three kinds of accounts. Each has its own setup and fails for different reasons, but in every path the new password reaches the user the same way: Robin sends a temporary password by SMS. It is never shown in the chat.
- Local reset: Robin sends a temporary password to the user by SMS. The user signs in with it and sets their own.
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Domain controller reset: for users in on-premises Active Directory. Connect the domain first, in AI Center > Setup > Domain actions. For this path to work:
- The device must be joined to the domain, not only to Entra ID.
- The user's mail attribute in AD must be filled in. Robin finds the user by email address, not by UPN.
- If you have several domain controllers, the connected one must hold the user. Check a domain controller in the same site as the user.
- The new password must meet your domain's password complexity policy.
- Entra reset: for users synced from Microsoft Entra ID. The Atera enterprise application needs the User Administrator role (see Microsoft Entra ID: enable password resets).
Automatic reset after failed sign-ins
Separately from Robin's chat, a domain user who fails to sign in three times in a row on their Windows device receives an SMS and an email with a reset link. The reset runs directly, with no Robin conversation and no playbook, and a ticket is created afterwards for the record, already resolved. This path only resets passwords on an on-premises domain controller, never in Entra ID. It needs Self Service enabled on the account, and the Helpdesk Agent set up for the user who is signed in to the device.
Test each path before users can use them
A reset path either works end to end or it doesn't. Test each identity source you have enabled, on a real account, before end users can trigger them:
- Confirm the test user has a phone number in Atera and an assigned agent.
- Trigger the reset through Robin as the end user would.
- Confirm the SMS arrives and the code is accepted.
- Confirm the temporary password arrives by SMS and works for signing in.
- Confirm the password or MFA method has actually changed at the identity source, not just that Robin reported success.
Tip: If the SMS never arrives, check the number's country code first. If the code is correct, the destination country may be blocked by the SMS provider. Contact Atera Support.
